Mon General Hospital Files Certificate of Need for Birth Center Renovation, Expansion

Mon General Hospital will be filing a Certificate of Need (CON) application with the West Virginia Health Care Authority seeking approval of plans to renovate and expand the hospital’s Hazel Ruby McQuain Family Birth Center.

According to the application, the project will expand the Labor, Delivery, Recovery and Postpartum (LDRP) concept to all 16 of its licensed obstetric beds, relocate the nursing station to improve the security and safety of the unit and add a C-section delivery room within the Birth Center. Under the LDRP concept, a woman having a routine labor and delivery remains in the same room throughout her stay along with her newborn.

Darryl Duncan, Mon General Hospital’s President and CEO, states that the proposed renovation and expansion project will address the significant growth in newborn deliveries the hospital has experienced in recent years.

“Over the last six years, we have experienced 78 percent growth in newborn deliveries at Mon General and we are expecting that to increase an additional 45 percent in the next three years,” Duncan said. Mon General Hospital had 1,006 newborn deliveries in 2011.

“The mothers and our nursing staff prefer the LDRP concept,” said Amy Bridge, RN, Director of the Birth Center. “It gives the nurse and the patients the chance to enjoy some continuity from labor and delivery to the next day, as you can continue a relationship with the mother as you help her care for her baby.”

Mon General Hospital utilizes Press Ganey, an independent company that works with 10,000 healthcare providers and more than 50% of all hospitals in the United States, to measure patient satisfaction. According to the most recent full year results, Mon General Hospital's obstetrics services is at the 97th percentile nationally for patient satisfaction.

“The Birth Center is a comfortable place, the staff is well trained and it provides for a memorable family experience,” said William Hamilton, MD, Mon General Hospital’s Section Chief for OB/GYN services. “This new project will position us to accommodate our continued growth and meet the expectations of our patients well into the future.”

“The cost of the project is $5,950,000. It will be funded internally and will not result in any increased charges to the patient,” Duncan said.

The existing Birth Center was opened in 1999 and funded in part by a major grant from the Hazel Ruby McQuain Foundation.