Silverton Hospital’s new family center
a warm welcome
TIMOTHY J. GONZALEZ / Statesman
Journal
Josiah Kelley (second
from right) holds his newborn daughter, Margaret, while
his sister, Meara Kelley (right), and CNA Carol
Blanchette (left) look on Wednesday in the Silverton
Hospital Family Birth Center. The birthing facility is
part of the $12 million expansion at the hospital.
| Parents
find added comforts to the birthing experience in the 18 new
patient suites.
TARA MCLAIN
Statesman Journal
October 26
SILVERTON — Now available:
Garden-view rooms for a one- to four-night stay, complete with
TV, stereo, VCR, whirlpool bath and daybed.
You also can deliver your baby here.
The Silverton Hospital Family Birth Center will
have a grand opening Saturday, and visitors will find more
than a delivery room.
The expansion includes 18 patient suites that
expectant mothers can settle into and never leave until they
head home with their new babies. Unlike other hospitals, the
new center allows for labor, delivery and recovery in one
room. Dads can even take a nap on a fold-out daybed and stow
food in a mini-refrigerator.
“It becomes a little apartment for her instead of
a medical area,” said Linda Webb, nurse and manager of the
center.
The 43,600-square-foot addition also houses a
surgery room for emergencies and Cesarean births, as well as
new office, conference and records space.
Community donations funded more than $2 million of
the expansion, which cost $12 million. The remaining amount
came from loans.
Nurses had a large part in designing the new
center, Webb said. They wanted mothers to have a comfortable,
fulfilling experience. They feel that a new mother’s
self-esteem is reflected in the care she receives, she
said.
Besides the suites, support groups are offered for
women who deliver at Silverton Hospital. Pregnant women can
learn about their changing bodies and can take childbirth
classes. The extra services are designed to familiarize the
mother with the staff and buildings.
“By the time she comes in here to deliver her
baby, she feels like this is home,” Webb said.
New mothers can bring their babies back in for
questions about breast-feeding and health to help alleviate
post-partum anxiety.
Shannon Kelley and her husband, Josiah, worried
that the new center wouldn’t be ready when she was.
“My wife was anxiously waiting to see if it was
going to be open,” Josiah Kelley said Wednesday as he cradled
his 2-day-old daughter, Margaret. “She was pretty sure
everything was going to be OK.”
The center opened for patients Oct. 4, and 100
babies already have been delivered there.
Patrick Vance, spokesman for the hospital, said
the center has become a destination care center. Women have
come from all around the Willamette Valley and even the coast
to deliver there.
Tara
McLain can be reached at (503) 399-6705.
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Grand
opening
A public reception will be from 9
a.m. to noon Saturday at the new Silverton Hospital expansion,
342 Fairview St.
Refreshments and tours will be offered. Call (503)
873-1780 for more information.
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