8/15/2002

Contact: Mary Patton
Office of Public Relations
Howard County General Hospital
410.740.7810

HOWARD COUNTY GENERAL HOSPITAL UNVEILS NEW LABOR & DELIVERY, NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

Howard County General Hospital: A Member of Johns Hopkins Medicine opened its new labor and delivery facility and neonatal intensive care unit Sept. 4. Expectant mothers in Howard County now have a luxurious new facility in which to deliver their babies; and newborns that need special care now receive it in the hospital’s new level III+ neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), designed to provide quality care in a quiet, comfortable and soothing environment.

"The new units are located adjacent to the postpartum unit that opened in 1998, providing contiguous maternal child facilities," said Victor A. Broccolino, President and CEO of HCGH. "We planned the units in response to community and physician needs and wants."

At more than twice the size of the previous unit, HCGH’s new labor and delivery unit features 12 labor/delivery/recovery suites, two cesarean section rooms and adjacent recovery rooms, and a Perinatal suite to care for high risk obstetrical patients. A new monitoring system allows physicians and staff to check on a patient’s status from anywhere on the unit.

"Howard County General Hospital ranks fifth in the state of Maryland for number of births," said Dr. Mary Hogan, Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "This new unit will help us continue to serve the growing population of child-bearing women in Howard County."

The new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is more than three times the size of the former unit and is designed to provide families maximum privacy. Each of the 18 infant-care stations is located in its own alcove. The unit also features a separate isolation room and a family nesting room to prepare families for their transition home.

Contact: Mary Patton, Office of Public Relations, Howard County General Hospital, 410.740.7810.