HJBR May/Jun 2020

46 MAY / JUN 2020  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE   Hospital Rounds evolves. Patients and their loved ones are encour- aged to visit womans.org for the most up-to-date information regarding COVID-19 policies. Ochsner Medical Center – Baton Rouge Celebrates 10 years of Women’s Services April 12, 2020 marked the 10th anniversary of women’s services at Ochsner Medical Center – Baton Rouge (OMCBR). In the past 10 years, more than 13,300 babies have been delivered at the facility. OMCBR has the largest certified nurse midwife program in the region; and the hospital’s Family Birthing Center features eight labor and delivery rooms and four built-in birthing tubs. These rooms are twice the size of normal hospital rooms, and are designed to create the experience of home for mother and baby. Families are welcome to design their own birthing plans in partnership with their providers. While Ochsner Baton Rouge has offered OB/ GYN care in the Capital Area for over 30 years, prior to April 12, 2010, all deliveries occurred at another hospital. To mark the occasion, the team celebrated on with a small and socially distant party in honor of every little miracle. Woman’s Hospital Enhances Critical Care Services for Pregnant Patients and Babies During COVID-19 Pandemic Woman’s Hospital has opened a separate hospi- tal unit for patients with COVID-19 infection. This unit is fully capable of caring for patients and their newborns during and after delivery. This unit also has a separate nursing and medical staff that does not cross over into the regular labor and delivery units. The hospital is strictly following CDC guide- lines using appropriate PPE and infection control measures. The 12-bed unit has the capacity to expand to a 24-bed unit if needed. “This isolation unit allows us to provide the same safe and excellent quality of care to our patients who are experiencing COVID-19 infection, while preventing exposure to our other patients,” said Barbara Griffith, MD, president and CEO of Wom- an’s Hospital. “We want our expecting moms to be reassured that Woman’s is taking all of the nec- essary precautions to keep them safe.” Woman’s also recently added critical care phy- sicians to the medical staff in order to enhance services to support patients in the rare case that serious illness occurs. These providers are experienced in caring for the most complex cases and work closely with our maternal-fetal medicine specialists and a patient’s OB-GYN. The hospital is seeing more critically ill infants being transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit as regional hospitals are focused on caring for adult patients. These fragile babies often require significant medical care and ventilators to assist with breathing. On March 30, the hospital opened its own COVID-19 drive-thru testing site for pregnant patients with symptoms of respiratory illness in their third trimester at the Woman’s Center for Wellness. Patients must have a doctor’s order to be tested. “Right now women are asking a lot of questions because they’re concerned and they’re worried,” says Pamela Simmons, DO, maternal-fetal medi- cine specialist for Woman’s Hospital. “The best thing they can do is keep themselves healthy, and to know that Woman’s is here to provide the abso- lute best care for them when they need it.” Woman’s is hosting weekly Q&A with OB-GYNs and maternal-fetal medicine physicians on its Facebook page. The Woman’s Hospital website is also being updated constantly as information OCHSNER MEDICAL CENTER – BATON ROUGE CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF WOMEN’S SERVICES