For most people, the inside of an emergency room is something they may have seen for a few minutes while waiting for anesthesia to kick in -- not necessarily a time they are soaking in the scenery.

Today, however, St. Peter's Hospital is giving Helenans an opportunity to get an up-close-and-personal look at its brand-new, state-of-the-art operating room facilities, which are slated to open Aug. 3.

According to John Solheim, the $2.8 million project, which includes $980,000 in new equipment and technology, is the final piece of the hospital's five-year, $43 million master facility plan.

Among the highlights of the new space are the high-definition monitors and laparoscopic surgery equipment.

According to Kathleen Zarndt, operating room director, the high-def equipment will allow doctors to perform laparoscopic surgery -- minimally invasive procedures that are done through a small incision using a camera inserted into the incision to view the area of the surgery -- with much greater visual detail than the previous equipment allowed.

The laparoscopic monitors are located directly over operating tables, as opposed to the previous units that had to be wheeled up to the tables at more awkward viewing angles.

Another larger high-def monitor hangs on the walls of the rooms. These monitors will be used to view X-rays and electronic medical records.

Another feature of the new facilities, Zarndt said, is that the OR nurses can control the lights, monitors, scopes and medical records by a touchscreen monitor.

The new operating rooms are more spacious -- 600 square feet, compared to the current rooms that are 500 square feet each. They also have 12-foot ceilings -- three feet higher than the current rooms -- which allow equipment and cords to come down from the ceiling rather than cluttering the floors.

The facilities are opening in two phases. Two new operating rooms will open Aug. 3. A third new operating room is expected to open in December.

When the new facilities open, two of the ORs currently in use will be used as procedure rooms for smaller surgeries mostly involving local anesthesia.

The three new rooms, combined with the existing four ORs and the operating room devoted to Caesarean sections in the hospital's recently opened labor and delivery department, effectively double the hospital's operating room capacity.

Zarndt said the hospital is providing the open house both to give the public an unusual opportunity to go behind the scenes at the hospital and to show off everything the new space has to offer.

";It's state-of-the-art, it's bigger, it's brand new," Zarndt said. ";It's exciting for the staff.

OR Open House

The public is invited to attend an open house at St. Peter's Hospital to view its two new operating rooms today from 5-7 p.m. .Enter the hospital through the new main entrance off Winne and follow the signs.

Features editor Joe Menden: 447-4087 or joe.menden@helenair.com