Media Release
May 9, 2008
Major Renovation to SJRHC Women’s Center
BRYAN - This Monday, May 12, work will begin on a $12 million transformation of the Women’s Unit at St. Joseph Regional Health Center, a renovation project that will expand both the number and size of rooms for new mothers and women needing other health services.
The new Women’s Center will house all maternity-related services, a well-baby nursery, an expanded Intensive Care area for newborns, and support areas. “The physicians and staff spent a tremendous amount of time working on the design of this unit and deserve a great deal of credit," said Tony Pfitzer, CEO of SJRHC. “The look and feel of the entire unit will be completely transformed during the renovation. This new center is designed to help new families have the best birthing experience possible.”
In 2007 SJRHC had more than 2,340 births, up almost 6 percent from 2006, and expects that growth in birthing to continue as more people move into the Brazos Valley. The project will encompass more than 39,000 square feet of space when complete, almost doubling it’s current size and making it the largest Women’s Health Unit in the area.
When complete the new Women’s Center will feature:
11 new Labor/Delivery/Recovery Rooms, nearly doubling our capacity from the current 6 rooms. This will allow maternity services to schedule more procedures on a timely basis and handle more births each day with less movement of patients from room to room.
34 post-partum rooms – up from the current 17 post-partum rooms. All of these rooms are larger than the current rooms.
Two expanded C-section suites.
Two expanded recovery suites.
New to the unit will be 3 dedicated ante-partum rooms for the care of women with pre-term labor.
29 well-baby bassinets in our Level 1 nursery.
9 bassinets in the Intensive Care area for newborns with special needs. The new area will be a separate nursery space with more room to allow parents to spend much more time with their babies while in Intensive Care.
“This is a much-anticipated project that we are eager to have underway,” said SJRHC CEO Tony Pfitzer, who explained that in order to expand women’s services the hospital had to wait until its surgical unit moved over to the new space in the tower. That move occurred last month, freeing up space for the women’s center project to begin.
Much of the space to be renovated currently houses SJRHC’s Labor & Delivery, Post Partum, Pediatrics and Nursery areas. Since all those units will remain open while work is being done, renovation construction will occur in 6 phases over a period of 2 to 3 years. As each phase is finished, the new area will open for service allowing us to move into the vacated area and begin construction. Phase 1, which is the build-out of new postpartum rooms, is expected to be completed in January of next year.
Although there will be some detours and hallway closures during the project, this phased type of plan will allow the least disruption to patients and families as we complete construction, according to Pfitzer. The Architects for the Women’s Center project is Houston-based Watkins, Hamilton, Ross Architects and construction is being completed by Vaughn Construction Company.
St. Joseph Regional Health Center is the anchor facility for St. Joseph Health System, a health ministry of the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio. Established in 1936, SJRHC is a 214-bed health care center offering the community’s Lead Level III Trauma Center, an extensive inpatient and outpatient surgery program, and is known throughout the region for its cardiac, cancer and rehabilitation programs. SJRHC includes St. Joseph Regional Rehabilitation Center; a freestanding facility with includes a 31-bed rehabilitation unit; and Grimes St. Joseph Health Center, a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital in Navasota.
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