New $11 million expansion and renovation project brings more private rooms and state-of-the-art birthing facilities to Whitesburg ARH

6/1/2011

Whitesburg ARH Hospital unveiled today its newly completed patient care wing which is part of an $11 million hospital expansion and renovation project that will offer patients the comfort of additional private rooms and women state-of-the-art birthing facilities.

The new patient care wing includes 16 private patient rooms for delivery, recovery and postoperative patients and also offers advanced care for women.

Whether they are welcoming a new addition to the family, or need specialized care, women in Letcher and surrounding counties have to drive no farther than Whitesburg ARH for the best in gynecologic and obstetric care thanks to the features included in the new patient care wing.

Whitesburg ARH Community CEO Dena Sparkman says family-centered care is an essential part of the birthing experience at Whitesburg ARH so all OB rooms now feature new patient beds, furniture, oak-trimmed bassinets and sleep chairs and flat screen TVs to accommodate mothers, and babies, as well as fathers and visiting family members.

The new OB area features everything a new mother needs located on a single floor and centralizes labor/delivery, nursery, and obstetrics units, and offers a comfortable, quiet waiting area for families.


The new wing added 15,000 square feet onto the hospital and features:
• 16 private patient rooms for delivery recovery and post-operative non-infectious patients
• Four labor and delivery suites, increased from two
• All new state-of-the art equipment
• Computerized documentation system for infant medical records
• Nursery capacity nearly tripled in size which increases it to 12 cribs and is equipped with an isolation room to care for sicker babies, which can be upgraded to a Level 2 nursery
• Dedicated C-section/women’s surgery suite
• Comprehensive security procedures and systems in place
• Two family waiting rooms and a lactation center for new parents
 
“The goal of this project was not to just build a building but to bring about the best experience for all of our patients,” Sparkman says. “The flow and function of the space was designed by the clinicians who are providing care which means every aspect of the design was geared at how the caregiver could spend the most time with the patient and provide that patient the best care and comfort.”

OB/GYN Wade Baker, MD, who delivers babies at Whitesburg ARH, says the women’s care features in the new patient care wing are unlike anywhere else in the area.

“It has always been an honor that so many women have placed their trust in us to deliver their babies at Whitesburg ARH,” Dr. Baker says. “Not only we will continue to offer our patients and their children the highest level of care, we are now offering it in a new, spacious and state-of-the-art facility unlike any other in our region.”