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MetroSouth Medical Center Adds Physician Group

Posted on: Thursday, 7 August 2008, 15:00 CDT

MetroSouth Medical Center announced today that it has added a 12-physician obstetrics/gynecology practice group to its staff and will now offer round-the-clock obstetric and neonatal coverage. This is the first of many planned MetroSouth initiatives to enhance health and well-being services for women and infants.

The practice group, recruited from Michael Reese Hospital, joined the MetroSouth staff Aug 1. They quickly went to work, delivering their first baby, a girl, two days later.

"This is a terrific group of doctors and a great addition to our staff, which is already first-rate," said Dr. Enrique Beckmann, Chief Medical Officer of MetroSouth. "Our foremost goal at MetroSouth is to serve our community with convenient access to exceptional healthcare, and the enhancement of services for women and infants is a major part of meeting this goal."

The addition of the 12-physician practice group, led by Dr. Lewis Blumenthal, more than doubles the number of Ob/Gyn physicians at the hospital, allowing 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week obstetric coverage for the first time. The practice group also includes two perinatologists, specialists in caring for high-risk maternity patients, so that patients who previously had to be transferred elsewhere can now be treated at MetroSouth. The perinatologists, Dr. Guillermo Font and Dr. Luis Garcia, are also bilingual in English and Spanish, an important advantage in the diverse community served by MetroSouth. The team also includes three certified nurse midwives, further expanding the services and choices MetroSouth offers to pregnant women.

Among other services for maternity patients, MetroSouth Medical Center provides eight state-of-the-art LDRP (Labor, Delivery, Recovery and Postpartum) rooms so that a mother does not have to be moved during her stay.

In the past, the hospital averaged about 1,200 births a year. With the additional staff and services, it is projecting more than 2,000 births a year.

The hospital's enhancement of maternal and infant services is part of its focus on healthcare for women, which also includes osteoporosis treatment, heart care and community outreach programs to screen for bone density and breast and ovarian cancer.

MetroSouth Medical Center is the new name of the former St. Francis Hospital, which was acquired by MSMC Investors in a transaction completed last month.

"This is an exciting time," said MetroSouth CEO Arnold Kimmel. "The quality of care offered here has always been exceptional, and it is going to become even better and more comprehensive."

Mr. Kimmel said MetroSouth is making improvements in a number of areas in addition to obstetrics. Community outreach is being expanded by adding several grant-supported health programs including screening for breast, cervical and prostate cancer and bilingual, culturally diverse outreach teams. The emergency room is being upgraded with a new ER team to reduce average discharge times. In-patient rooms are being converted so that by the end of 2009 MetroSouth will be the only hospital in Chicago Southland communities with all private rooms.

The hospital is also planning substantial capital improvements including the addition of state-of-the-art equipment such as a PACS digital imaging system and a 64-slice CT Scanner.

Mr. Kimmel added that as the hospital maintains its focus on new areas of growth, it will continue selectively to identify high-quality physician groups as potential additions to its already excellent staff.

Source: Business Wire

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