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Fayette Hospital gets OK to deliver babies

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Bring on the babies!

State officials have approved Fayette Community Hospital’s request to offer perinatal services, clearing the way for expectant mothers to deliver their children here instead of trudging out of county for the service.

Hospital officials plan to begin delivering babies in summer 2006.

Because no other hospitals opposed the request, Fayette Community’s approval is final, according to Andy Boisseau, director of communications for the Georgia Department of Community Health.

In its six-year existence, the hospital has lacked the certification to deliver babies, although babies have been born there due to the occasional emergency case which couldn’t be diverted to another hospital.

The county recently passed the 100,000 population threshold and each county bordering Fayette can deliver babies in their hospitals, but until now Fayette Community was left out of the mix.

The Georgia Department of Community Health approved the hospital’s application Sept. 8 in a letter to hospital officials.

The hospital will create a seven-bed obstetrics unit with three labor, delivery and recovery suites in addition to cesarean section suites. The unit also will have two triage spaces for obstetrics patients, a nine-bassinet general care nursery and a five-bassinet specialty care nursery, otherwise known as a neonatal intensive care unit.

The hospital will not, however, increase its total number of beds, which will remain at 100.

“This is great news for Fayette County residents,” said Darrell Cutts, CEO of Fayette Community Hospital. “We are thrilled with the state’s decision to allow us to offer obstetric services. The county has grown tremendously over the past few years and with it, the need for nearby OB services. This is yet another opportunity for Fayette Community Hospital to better serve our community.”

In 2002, more than 1,000 pregnant women in Fayette County had to travel out-of-county to deliver their babies, hospital officials noted.

Several obstetricians currently have offices at Fayette Community in conjunction with their gynecological practices, but they have been unable to deliver babies at the hospital.

In a few emergency cases, local pregnant women have delivered their babies in an ambulance while being transported to an out-of-county hospital. The hospital is equipped to deliver babies on an emergency basis only, officials said.

Lisa Hedenstrom, chief nursing officer for Fayette Community Hospital, noted that having OB services here enhances the safety of expectant mothers and their babies.

“The addition of this specialty service at Fayette Community Hospital will prevent residents from having to drive considerable distances, when they can receive quality care in Fayette,” Hedenstrom said.

Earlier this year, Fayette Community was ranked one of the nation’s top 100 hospitals by an independent organization; the hospital hadn’t applied for the honor but it was selected for the award after the company conducted a review of hospitals across the country. For more information, visit www.fayettehospital.org.