RICHMOND HEIGHTS, MO – SSM St. Mary’s Health Center’s opened a new Women’s Evaluation Unit on July 7. The Women’s Evaluation Unit is part of a $10.2 million expansion and renovation underway at SSM St. Mary’s Health Center’s Family Birthplace to improve comfort, convenience and care for new moms and babies.
The Women’s Evaluation Unit is an emergency, pre-term monitoring and admissions area for pregnant women. It enables pregnant women in an emergency situation or with sudden concerns about their pregnancy to bypass the traditional emergency room and receive fast care from obstetric physicians.
“Our new Women’s Evaluation Unit provides more privacy, comfort and room for patients and family,” said Pam Lesser, director of Women’s Service at SSM St. Mary’s. “It features the same spa-like design we are implementing throughout our maternity rooms at SSM St. Mary’s.”
The Women’s Evaluation Unit has six beds, all-private patient rooms and a new family waiting area.
More than 3,000 babies are born each year at SSM St. Mary’s Health Center; the majority of these births are among the most high-risk in the region. Aligned with the physicians of Saint Louis University School of Medicine and SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center, SSM Maternity Care at St. Mary’s provides a comprehensive mother-baby care specializing in high-risk obstetrics and featuring a Level III Neonatal ICU, a satellite location of the St. Louis Fetal Care Institute, a Maternal and Fetal Care Center, and genetic testing. It is also home to Missouri’s only dedicated Maternal Transport Team.
In May 2011, a new Mother-Baby unit opened, expanding the Family Birthplace at SSM St. Mary’s Health Center. The completion of the Women’s Evaluation Unit is the second of many Family Birthplace renovations through spring 2012.
By November 2011, the Family Birthplace at St. Mary’s will feature all private rooms for new mothers. Additionally, Labor-and-Delivery rooms will be under room-by-room construction starting in August. Renovations to the Antepartum rooms will be completed by 2012.
For more photos, visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ssmhealthcarestlouis/sets/72157627186212620/
About SSM St. Mary’s Health Center
Conveniently located in Richmond Heights, Mo., SSM St. Mary's Health Center is a contemporary, 525-bed hospital with distinctive capabilities in high-risk obstetrical services, fetal surgery, state-of-the-art heart surgery, a chest pain center, advanced stroke care, and the latest imaging and outpatient services. Also a teaching hospital, SSM St. Mary’s Health Center is home to an accredited internal medicine residency program and to Saint Louis University School of Medicine’s Obstetrics/Gynecology and Family Practice residency programs. SSM St. Mary's Health Center is winner of the Premier QUEST High Performing Hospital award. It is a member of SSM Health Care – St. Louis, a Missouri Quality Award winner. To learn more, visit ssmhealth.com/stmarys.
About SSM Maternity Care at St. Mary’s
A service of SSM Health Care – St. Louis, SSM Maternity Care’s medical relationships with Saint Louis University School of Medicine and SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center bring the experience and skills of numerous physician experts, including obstetricians and maternal-fetal medicine and neonatology specialists, plus the best available medical and surgical care for high-risk newborns. Five SSM Maternity Care hospital sites throughout St. Louis and St. Charles counties feature an advanced (Level II) nursery staffed by highly skilled physicians, nurses and specialists that include neonatologists and SSM Cardinal Glennon staff pediatricians. For the most complicated births, Level III newborn nurseries, or NICUs (neonatal intensive care unit), at SSM St. Mary's Health Center and SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center have the equipment and expertise to care for babies born prematurely, before 32 weeks gestation or at very low birth weights. For more information, go to www.ssmhealth.com/maternity.
For media inquires, contact:
Stacey L. Rynders
Communications Specialist
SSM St. Mary's Health Center
314-768-8801 (office)
314-306-7866 (cell)
314-908-0688 (pager)
Stacey_L_Rynders@ssmhc.com