IN Peters Township December 2019/January 2020 | Page 59

A Renewed Commitment
To Women’s Health
Written by Emily King
E
xpecting mothers and family in the Pittsburgh area,
particularly those living in the southern region, have an
exciting option for a comfortable and soothing birth
experience. Washington Health System has announced
the completion of Phase 1 of its new CARE Center for
Family Birth and Women’s Health.
The first phase of construction included the completion of a
comfortable family lounge, a new lobby and thirteen spacious
postpartum rooms. The 22,000-square-foot space fills the same area
of the hospital, but the layout of the space has been adapted to offer a
more aesthetically pleasing and functional department.
For a year and a half, WHS spoke with community members and
new parents about what changes would help them to choose WHS
Washington Hospital to deliver their babies. They heard from both
WHS patients as well as patients from other hospitals in the area. Staff
and physicians also provided input on what changes would enhance
the overall experience. The feedback was the driving force of the plan
for the new unit.
Prenatal Classes
Our certified childbirth educators and lactation consultant offer
a full range of classes for new and/or expectant parents.
To register, call
[phone]
whs.org
“We decided that if we were going to make this investment in our
hospital and our community, we wanted to get it right,” says Leslie
Gostic, MSN, RNC-MNN, CBC, Nurse Manager of the CARE Center
for Family Birth and Women’s Health. “Who better to listen to than
patients, our community members and staff?”
The $7 million project strives to make the experience of welcoming
a new baby more pleasant for both the mother and her family. The
revamped suites allow new moms to recover in a calm and comforting
environment in contrast to the standard hospital rooms of the past.
The space now matches the excellent level of care they have always
provided.
The rooms themselves are larger, with a family nook for meals and
other activities, a comfortable convertible couch, artwork and a
spacious modern looking bathroom. Parents and family members will
have access to complimentary snacks and drinks. The rooms are even
equipped with a Bluetooth speaker system that will allow women to
listen to a custom playlist. The addition of retractable curtains creates
a space for breastfeeding mothers to have privacy, if they prefer,
without needing to ask guests to step out of the room. The space will
allow women to feel more at home, rather than the typical hospital
environment.
Besides the esthetic improvements, patients will still receive excellent
care from the medical staff plus every delivery is attended by a
Neonatal Resuscitation team member. The new nursery now includes
a level 2 special care area that will allow staff and physicians to provide
the best care possible to babies that may need some additional
medical attention.
The second phase of construction is underway and is expected to
take several months to complete. This part of the project will see
the completion of drastically improved labor and delivery rooms,
C-section suite as well as physician on-call area. In the meantime, care
is being taken so that patients will not notice or be distracted by the
construction project.
To take a virtual tour of the unit visit whs.org/CARECenter.