Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 13 · column 1 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
By MELANIE BARBER
Rappahaanock N«ws Coiitributiag Writer
Warren Memorial Hospital and Valley Health System announced plans this week for a S2.8 million modernization and expansion of the hospital’s obstetrical unit and Emergency Department on the first floor next to the new outpatient entrance and Same-Day Surgery' unit.
The project involves replacing the existing obstetrical unit on the third flood of the hospital’s original building and expanding the Emergency Department to include “fast-track” service for less seriously ill patients and expanded trauma and cardiac treatment areas. Also included in the project are altered entrances, expanded lobby and waiting areas and construction of a new gift shop. This expansion will be Warren Memorial’s largest building improvement project since the south wing was added in the late 1970s.
. In its long-range and strategic planning, Warren Memorial Hospital’s board of directors identified modernized obstetrical facilities and expansion of the Emergency Department as key areas for upgrading services to the community. The project is made possible by funding assistance from Valley Health System, the non-profit parents corporation of Warren Memorial Hospital. "Greater access to capital for needed construction and equipment purchases is one benefit of the hospital’s affiliation with Valley Health System,” said William A. “Pete” Johnston, chairman of the system’s board of directors.
The new obstetrical suite will contain four LDRP (labor, delivery , recovery and post-partum) rooms in which women would remain during labor and delivery and after the baby is bom until discharged from the hospital. The unit will also contain two beds designated for longer-stay Caesarian-section births and two designated for gynecological cases. The new location will be close to the surgical suite, where C-sections, other obstetrical and gynecological surgeries are performed.
The hospital recruited two obstetricians/gynecologists in 1994. Recruiting physicians, always challenging for small community hospitals, was made more difficult by the current condition of the obstetrical unit at Warren Memorial. The existing labor, delivery and post-partum rooms are located in the hospital’s original wing opened in 1951.
While there have been minor “facelift” improvements, there have been no major renovations of the third-floor unit because of difficulties that would be encountered w ith the concrete and load-bearing walls. A former labor room has been converted to a birthing room, and a testing area serves as a back-up birthing area. Nearly all deliveries except C-sections occur in these rooms.
“The space was designed at a time when the mother delivered in the delivery room and remained in the hospital for one to tw'o weeks, when obstetrical patients were treated as being ‘sick,’” said Sherry Morrison, RN, Director of Maternal Child Health. “Besides being more efficient, the new design will be more suitable for a 24-to 48-hour stay, will promote rooming in and will help make the birthing experience pleasing for families.”
Modernization and expansion of the Emergency Department will include three “fast track” exam and treatment rooms staffed by a nurse practitioner to treat less seriously ill patients and reduce congestion in the department. The project will also improve the size of the department’s --^W *
86.8%