Since opening in June 2025, St. Mary’s 16-bed Clinical Decision Unit (CDU) has cared for observation and outpatient-in-a-bed patients who need additional evaluation, treatment, monitoring, or recovery but do not require inpatient admission. The CDU operates 24/7 and remains open as long as it has patients in its care.
The unit is located on the main floor across from the radiology waiting area and provides focused, efficient care that supports timely clinical decision-making and helps patients safely transition home. Year-to-date, the CDU's likelihood-to-recommend score is 81.6%, placing the unit above the 75th percentile.
The team cares for a diverse patient population, and clinicians from approximately 14 specialties currently use the unit. The CDU’s goal is a total length of stay of 24 hours or less; the current average is approximately 15.6 hours.
Who is a good fit for the CDU?
The CDU can support a wide variety of patients, including those who:
Need additional diagnostic workup, treatment, or short-term observation
Need pre- or post-procedural or surgical care
Need more time to determine a safe disposition
Have a condition that requires further evaluation but not inpatient-level care
Are indeterminate or social admissions awaiting placement (outpatient-in-a-bed status required)
What's next: telemetry
The CDU is preparing to add remote continuous telemetry. This will allow the unit to care for low-acuity cardiac observation patients, stroke rule-outs, and other observation patients who need continuous monitoring. The team also continues to expand the specialties and patient populations it can support, partnering with clinicians to identify appropriate patients.
Consider the CDU
If you have a patient who meets observation or outpatient-in-a-bed criteria and could benefit from focused evaluation, treatment, or recovery, consider the CDU. Placing the right patient in the right setting supports safe, efficient patient movement throughout the hospital.
Meet the CDU Manager: Lindsay Mayhugh
Lindsay Mayhugh, BSN, RN, has been part of St. Mary's for 21 years. She started in healthcare as an EMT in the Emergency Department, then became an RN and spent much of her nursing career in emergency care. During a brief time away from St. Mary's, she worked in the Emergency Department at Phoenix Children's Hospital, where she built her experience caring for pediatric patients.
At St. Mary's, Lindsay has served as relief charge nurse, permanent charge nurse, and department scheduler. She became manager of the CDU in March 2025, three months before the unit opened, and helped build it from the ground up.
Lindsay wants to build a department where staff enjoy coming to work, value their colleagues and patients, and feel empowered to keep learning and growing. At the heart of the CDU is one philosophy: "One Team." For Lindsay and her staff, that means always looking for ways to grow, whether by developing staff, expanding the specialties and patient populations the CDU supports, or strengthening partnerships with everyone involved in a patient's care.
Get in touch
Lindsay's door is always open. Her office is in the CDU breakroom. Stop by to talk about admission opportunities, ways to improve current admissions, or the CDU in general. You can also reach her at Lindsay.Mayhugh@imail.org or 970-298-9468.