Delivering on promises, Parkland WISH celebrates one year in new facility
Women & Infants Specialty Health sets new records for all services
Just minutes after the new Parkland Memorial Hospital opened on Aug. 20, 2015, it was business as usual in the facility’s state-of-the-art Labor & Delivery unit. By 9:40 a.m., the first birth was celebrated – a baby boy delivered via Caesarean section. By midnight, 17 more infants had arrived. Now, one year after the nation’s largest new hospital construction project opened for patient care, Parkland averages 32 deliveries daily, an increase of five per day over the previous year, with a total of 11,270 deliveries tallied through July 31, 2016 at the new Parkland.
“Across the board, demand for services provided by our health division since the move to new Parkland has been growing,” said Paula Turicchi, Administrator, Parkland’s Women & Infants Specialty Health (WISH) Division. “Due to the increase in delivery volumes, our WISH clinic utilization is also much higher than anticipated.”
Since the move to the 2.5-million square-foot campus that includes the freestanding WISH Clinic connected via sky bridge to the Serena Simmons Connelly Tower of the hospital, Parkland’s delivery volume has increased by 18 percent; OB/Gyn radiology examinations are up by 10 percent; Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialty Clinic visits have increased by 5 percent and Gynecology Clinic visits are up by 8 percent. The Newborn Lactation clinic had 1,756 visits through the end of June 2016, although it had budgeted for 415, and OB/Gyn Emergency Services visits are up by 7.7 percent from the prior year.
“Our goal is to partner with patients and families for better healthcare outcomes,” said Marjorie Quint-Bouzid, MPA, RN, NEA- BC, Vice President of Nursing for WISH. “The new Parkland enables us to provide a better experience for our patients, thanks to enhancements like private patient rooms with bathroom and new L&D suites where patients give birth and recover in the same room. A dedicated family area in each room with pull-out sofa encourages family participation in the birthing experience, maximizing the opportunity for family-centered care and parental bonding.”
In addition, the new WISH tower at Parkland has 12 L&D triage rooms where women arriving in labor are assessed and cared for, 36 antepartum and 108 postpartum private patient rooms and 96 private neonatal intensive care (NICU) rooms. Nine state-of-the-art obstetrics specialty surgical suites, including an OR specifically designed for multiple births with a special neonatal resuscitation room, ensure the highest possible level of care for each delivery. Parkland has averaged 11 sets of twin births per month and one set of triplets since moving to the new hospital.
Magda Jimenez, 32, of Farmers Branch spent four weeks on the 7th floor of the new WISH Tower at Parkland in January. Admitted to the antepartum unit as a high-risk patient on Jan. 2, Jimenez was induced on Jan. 30. Her son Fernando was born a few hours later by C-section weighing barely 4 pounds and was immediately admitted to Parkland’s NICU, where he remained for the next month. Complications following delivery prevented Jimenez from seeing her baby for two days, but her husband, Angel Herrera, stayed in the NICU with their infant while she recovered.
Hours before Fernando’s birth, Jimenez’s 5-year-old son had surgery for appendicitis. She was unable to be with him because it was considered too dangerous for her and her unborn child, but was allowed to see him briefly in the hospital lobby. “Parkland doctors and nurses were wonderful to me, they all knew what was going on and were very comforting.”
During her 28 days as an inpatient before Fernando’s birth, Jimenez said, “The staff took such great care of me, I was really blessed.”
Once discharged from the hospital, Jimenez returned to Parkland’s NICU daily to be with little Fernando, staying overnight in his private room. When she was at home with her other children, the nurses would call her frequently to provide updates on her baby’s progress. “It was really comforting, knowing they really cared for him.”
Parkland’s lactation consultants also provided support and encouragement that enabled her to breastfeed Fernando. “They were wonderful and helped me whenever I needed it.”
In addition to their two sons, Jimenez and her husband have a daughter, Barbara, who was born 10 years ago in the old Parkland hospital. “The quality of care and the staff were awesome with both pregnancies,” Jimenez said, “but the new hospital is so much better for families. With my daughter, I had to share a room with other people, which was difficult. At the new Parkland, the private rooms are quiet and comfortable. At the old Parkland, the NICU had no room for parents to visit. I can’t imagine how hard it would have been not to be able to spend the night with Fernando and stay with him as much as possible.”
“It was difficult for the whole family to have a premature baby,” Jimenez added. “Parkland took care of all of our needs, including providing support to my older children. The Child Life specialists told them their baby brother ‘is like a little baby bird’ and gave them a pillow like a nest to help hold him. It was hard when they couldn’t come see Fernando at first, and the staff helped us explain the situation to them. Everything Parkland did for us was amazing.”
With Fernando doing well at home now and both Jimenez and her middle son healthy again, the family is grateful for care provided at the new Parkland during a challenging health crisis.
“It’s what we do for our patients, they are family to us,” concluded Quint-Bouzid.
Take a virtual tour of the new Labor & Delivery rooms.
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