EIRMC’s Women & Infants Center Hosts Grand Opening
June 17, 2011
Idaho Falls, ID - Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center will host a Grand Opening event to celebrate the completion of “Building Beautiful,” a $20 million construction project that more than doubled the size of the existing Women & Infants Center, increased Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) capacity, and improved the aesthetic appearance of the entire Center, including Labor & Delivery, patient rooms, nursing stations and common areas.
Hundreds of anticipated guests will receive guided tours of the Women & Infants Center, where they will learn about the spa-like amenities of EIRMC’s Labor and Delivery and Post-Partum rooms, and see the advanced technology and highly-trained expertise provided round-the-clock for fragile babies in the NICU.
Guests can also share written congratulatory notes with new moms and babies on our “Wall of Wishes.
Doug Crabtree, Chief Executive Officer at EIRMC, will deliver brief remarks, and present donations to March of Dimes (to help end birth defects) and Help, Inc. (to fight child abuse).
This project has been tackled in two major parts and nine phases:
- A complete floor-to-ceiling renovation of the former Women’s Center, which vastly improved the aesthetic appearance of the space, adding new family-centered amenities in the Labor & Delivery suites, patient rooms, wellborn Nursery, outpatient test and treatment areas, nursing stations and common spaces; and
- New construction of a new 24,000 s.f. state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, equipped to provide region-leading care for premature, fragile or sick infants born in Eastern Idaho, Western Wyoming, Southern Montana and Northern Utah. The new NICU is outfitted to care for as many as 33 infants at once. (The NICU is home to 26 critical care bays, with capacity to “co-bed” up to five sets of twins at a time.)
Project highlights:
Labor & Delivery Suites and Women’s Center Patient Rooms. Tranquil color schemes, all-new furnishings and fixtures, and stylish design make the newly-fresh rooms feel more soothing and comfortable for families. Amenities include:
- Comfortable birthing beds that convert during delivery, allowing mothers to labor and deliver in the same room
- Comfortable sleeping accommodations for a spouse or other overnight guest
- Wireless internet and flat-screen television
- Safe, comfortable walk-in showers with massage sprayers and benches
- Stylish cabinetry to hide medical equipment while not in use
- Lovely artwork
- Monitors located both bedside and at nursing stations, so mothers are never alone if something changes quickly, and they or their baby need immediate help.
Walk-In Care for Tests & Treatment. EIRMC now offers four new rooms for outpatient testing and treatment during pregnancy. For patients who experience contractions, abdominal or back pain, but aren’t sure if it’s real labor, this is a convenient option to have their medical condition quickly assessed, 24/7/365. If it is an emergency, they’re already exactly where they need to be, and if it isn’t, we can send them home after a professional assessment and treatment, reassured that all is well.
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. EIRMC holds a Level III(b) NICU designation. The nearest hospital with equivalent capabilities is 180 miles from Idaho Falls. The designation means we are equipped to resuscitate and support babies as early as 22 weeks gestation and as small as 450 grams (approximately one pound, and around the size of a water bottle).
- Sophisticated equipment includes Omnibed Isolettes (“wombs on wheels”), replicating the conditions of the mother’s own uterus, which allows the baby to develop almost as if it were still undelivered.
- The NICU includes three new operating and procedure rooms to perform laser eye surgeries to prevent retinopathy-related blindness, cleft lip and cleft palette repairs, and small cardiac procedures.
- Continuing Care Nursery (CCN) for more stable babies who have “graduated” from the NICU, but still need more medical support than a Newborn Nursery provides.
- Transition Apartments, serving as a family’s bridge between hospital and home. When the baby is ready to go home, parents can stay overnight several nights at the hospital first, to practice their skills, learn from our staff, and become comfortable with any equipment that will be used at home.
- Family amenities like a kitchen and Business Center, so parents can prepare meals and conduct business while still staying close to baby.
The construction project created approximately 160 jobs for Idahoans in the engineering and building trades, and included millions in purchases from local and regional suppliers.
The $20 million capital investment to fund the project was provided entirely by HCA, EIRMC’s parent company, and did not involve community debt or use of taxpayer dollars. It represents a major reinvestment in the communities we serve, and brings EIRMC and HCA’s total bricks, mortar, technology and tools capital investments to nearly $268 million since the hospital was originally built in 1986.
