Excela Health Gives Birth to New Maternity Center

By Jennifer Reeger, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.

Jul. 2–After 16 months of preparation, Excela Health delivered its newest “baby” Tuesday — the Maternity Center on Westmoreland Hospital’s Greensburg campus.

The health system consolidated births in its Latrobe, Jeannette and Greensburg facilities so that all babies born in Westmoreland County will be delivered at Westmoreland Hospital.

While Tuesday marked the first day of the combined maternity center, the last delivery in Excela Latrobe Hospital happened over the weekend, and expectant moms were asked to report to the Greensburg campus if they went into labor on Monday, said Excela spokeswoman Robin Jennings.

The new Maternity Center was designed to accommodate 2,300 births per year. The three hospitals combined delivered 2,140 babies in 2005-06, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health statistics.

“It was built with the idea of the combined numbers — what Latrobe, Jeannette and (Westmoreland) were doing and then some,” said Sally Backus, nurse manager of the Maternity Center.

The center has three triage rooms where women coming in for delivery are first monitored before moving on to one of 10 labor and delivery suites.

After birth and a short recovery, the mothers will move to one of 23 postpartum rooms, where they will spend the rest of their stay.

That’s where Amanda and Philip Johnson of Connellsville were yesterday with their third child, Ean Michael, who was born just before 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Amanda Johnson, a nurse at UPMC Shadyside Hospital, said she noticed the differences between the old obstetrics department at Excela Westmoreland and the new since she gave birth to son Eli nearly two years ago.

She said the new rooms are “a lot nicer,” particularly because hardwood floors have replaced carpeting and privacy curtains block the door and not just the bed.

“It’s very nice, especially the privacy issues are a lot better than they were in the other one,” she said.

And then there’s the flat screen TV.

“I noticed that,” Philip Johnson said.

The move does not affect gynecological care. Inpatient gynecological surgeries will continue to be performed at all Excela hospitals.

While inpatient pediatrics will move to Excela Westmoreland, outpatient pediatric surgeries will continue at the other hospitals.

No staff members were laid off because of the consolidation, Jennings said.

The new center was fairly quiet yesterday.

Jennings said many mothers who planned Caesarian sections or whose labor was being induced chose either to deliver late last week or later this week knowing the consolidation was taking place.

“They’re looking for there to be July 4th babies,” she said.

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