After fire and heroic rescue, Grimes Center celebrates newly renovated wing
Among those celebrating the reopening of the newly renovated Grimes Center wing were (l-r): Anthony Mancini, maintenance supervisor; Earl Caple, porter; and Ricky Signor, housekeeping and maintenance specialist. Caple and Signor were among the staff members who helped rescue patients from a February 2021 fire on the fourth floor of the wing.
Joining Grimes Center staff at the reopening event were (l-r): Jeanette Bogdan, RN, executive director, Care Management, YNHHS; Michael Holmes, chief operating officer, YNHH; and Thomas Balcezak, MD, chief clinical officer, YNHHS.
The first floor of the renovated wing includes a rehabilitation gym, along with space for outpatient therapy.
Staff and leaders toured the renovated wing, which features more spacious patient rooms. From left are Karen Garlie, RN, senior manager, Home Care Plus Guilford hospice; Carol Work, RN, director, Long-Term Care, YNHHS; Jeanette Bogdan, RN, executive director, Care Management, YNHHS; and Kathleen O’Leary, RN, vice president, Post-Acute Care Services, YNHHS.
Sunny and warm, Aug. 15 could not have been more different than Ricky Signor’s most memorable day at work.
That day was Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021. Signor, a housekeeping and maintenance specialist at the Grimes Center, had come in on his day off to clear the sidewalk during a snowstorm. Shortly after noon, he saw the fire alarm lights flashing inside the building. Fire had broken out in a fourth-floor patient room, and Signor raced to join 11 other employees who safely evacuated 14 patients through thick, black smoke. No one was injured in the fire, which was started by a malfunctioning light over a patient’s bed. But the smoke and water also damaged three lower floors in the wing.
On Aug. 15, Signor and other staff members, including many rescuers from that February day, joined Grimes and Yale New Haven Health leaders to mark the grand reopening of the wing.
Carol Work, RN, director, Long-Term Care, welcomed the group and again thanked employees, including the rescuers and those who relocated 36 patients from the other floors that February day.
“You all did a phenomenal job,” she said.
Staff and leaders toured the renovated wing, which includes a rehabilitation gym and space for outpatient therapy on the first floor, and larger, updated patient rooms that house 46 beds.
“These rooms are going to be great to work in,” said Barbara Slobin, RN. “It will be much easier to bring in patient lift equipment.”
Signor said it was “amazing” to see the wing reopen.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to use this space,” he said. “It’s a good feeling.”
