Construction on Betty H. Cameron Women's and Children's Hospital going strong 02/16/2009 Driving down Wilmington’s 17th Street, it is hard not to notice the progress on the outside of New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s new women’s and children’s hospital. The exterior walls are going up and the roof is going on. But the outside work is just the most visible part of what is happening to prepare for its scheduled opening next summer.
Throughout New Hanover Regional Medical Center staff members are making plans and raising money to ensure the new hospital is clinically advanced and exceptionally comforting to the patients and families who will use its services.
“The transformation of healthcare for women and children for our community will be amazing,” said Barbara Buechler, NHRMC Director of Women’s and Children’s Services. “We are creating a beautiful environment for families.”
The 149-bed hospital will feature all private rooms. It includes gynecological, high-risk pregnancy, labor and delivery, mother/baby, neonatal intensive care, pediatric inpatient, pediatric intensive care and pediatric specialty services.
Each area is designed to meet the specific needs of those receiving care. The high-risk antepartum unit will be separate from the mother/baby floor and supports privacy for women undergoing a difficult pregnancy. The area will also feature an outdoor patio that overlooks a “healing garden” and gives patients and their families a chance to get out of their room and break up the monotony of bed rest.
In the neonatal intensive care unit family sleep rooms will allow parents to stay with their newborns while they’re in the hospital. To make the stay easier, they’ll also have access to showers, washers, driers and a kitchen area.
“Our number one priority is creating an environment that provides healing and support to patients and their families,” said Buechler. “Every unit has a family space outside of the patient rooms. They have comfortable chairs, education material and internet access.”
Donations to the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Foundation have played a large role in funding the new Betty H. Cameron Women’s and Children’s Hospital as well as the new Surgical Pavilion. The Foundation’s “Our Health, Our Hospital, Our Future” campaign, chaired by Bill Rudisill, has raised more than $4.8 million to date, including a gift of $2.1 million from the Dan Cameron Family Foundation in honor of Betty Cameron, for whom the Women’s and Children’s Hospital has been named.
“When I was asked to chair the Foundation’s $7 million capital I accepted without hesitation,” said Rudisill. “As someone who cares deeply about this community, I felt it was both a responsibility and an honor to be asked to help New Hanover Regional Medical Center realize its vision. It was a commitment I could get behind.”
“The capital campaign is essential for us to complete our projects,” said Christina Maroulis, Director of Planning and Construction. “A lot of attention has been paid to the family rooms and what goes in them.”
“It’s great to see it all take shape,” said Maroulis. “To know we only have another year to see the building and have people in it is very exciting.”
For information on how to give to the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Foundation’s “Our Health, Our Hospital, Our Future” campaign, visit www.nhrmcfoundation.org.
