Bridgeport Hospital recently opened a new Closer to Home lounge for discharged patients who meet certain criteria and are awaiting transportation home. The lounge is staffed by a patient care technician.
The Closer to Home (CTH) lounge is now open at Bridgeport Hospital. Located in the lobby by Patient Relations, the lounge is a designated area where patients can comfortably wait for transportation after they are medically cleared for discharge. It is staffed by a patient care technician and is open Monday through Friday, 8 am – 4 pm.
“This addresses the issue of prolonged Emergency Department boarding, which has been shown to correlate with extended hospital stays,” said Emily Hanko, RN, assistant nurse manager for Oncology, West Tower 7 (WT7), who has been organizing the project. “By facilitating improved bed flow and turnover, the CTH lounge enhances discharge efficiency and contributes to optimizing overall hospital throughput.”
The new lounge aims to improve the process from that of the previous discharge lounge on WT7 and has expanded eligibility criteria for those who can use it. Patients must be alert, oriented, ambulatory and have an active discharge order for home or home with services. Some exclusions do apply.
In its first week, the CTH lounge saw 77 patients. The hope is that it will be used extensively, similar to CTH lounges at Yale New Haven Hospital’s York Street and Saint Raphael campuses. As of January 2025, for example, the Saint Raphael Campus lounge averaged 233 patients per month for the current fiscal year.
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