West Ashley hospital opens new unit

Women, children spreading out in family-centered facility

Women and children are movin' on up at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital.

The West Ashley facility has added a second floor to house its new Women's and Pediatrics Unit, and began moving patients from the first floor on Monday.

Kristen Hankla
The Post and Courier

The 24 patient rooms in the new Women's and Pediatrics' Unit of Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital include flat-screen TVs, chairs that completely recline, window seats, sinks and individual full bathrooms.

The unit includes 24 beds and is part of a 63-bed expansion of the hospital. Under construction is a fifth floor over another section of the hospital that will house 36 medical-surgical beds. Three more medical-surgical beds will be added to the existing fourth floor.

The expansion, expected to be completed in late spring, will bring the hospital's total number of beds to 204.

While each room in the new Women's and Pediatrics Unit is slightly different, they all offer certain amenities for the patients as well as their caretakers.

"Our intent is to make the experience as positive and as healing as possible," said Linda Schofield, director of women's and children's services for Roper St. Francis Healthcare.

The rooms are all private, like the rest of the hospital, and include private baths. They have flat-screen TVs, desks of varying sizes, and dry-erase boards for nurses to write their names, the room's phone number and medication information for the patient.

The hospital beds expand to 96 inches long and can hold 500 pounds.

Caretakers can take a rest in chairs that completely recline, or in the padded window seats.

The hospital's approach to healing is family-centered, Schofield said.

The new floor, which measures more than 15,000 square feet, includes a centralized nurses station to keep the staff close to all patients. It also boasts a room for educational classes and a visitors area with wireless Internet access.

Clinical Manager Beth Caldwell. R.N., said the staff had a lot of input on the new unit. She is particularly pleased to be getting more storage space and new computers on wheels to take into patients' rooms.

With the growth of the West Ashley area, the hospital was beginning to run out of space in its labor and delivery area, Schofield said. The new unit comes at the right time.

The rooms on the first floor will be closed for a couple of weeks so they can get a "face-lift," Schofield said. Twelve of the rooms will continue to be used for deliveries, while 19 will be fitted with cribs to become places for mothers with their new babies.

Reach Kristen Hankla at 937-5548 or khankla@postandcourier.com.