Hospitals invest in women’s services

“We’ve always been in the business of women’s health,” said Thomas Urban, president and north market leader at Mercy Health Fairfield Hospital. “This year we’re trying to put an umbrella over all those services in a comprehensive way.”

The Fairfield hospital has been delivering babies since 1996 and averages about 2,000 births a year. In August, an $8.5 million, multi-stage renovation and remodel of the Family Birthing Center will be complete. Those renovations have included a redesign of the labor and delivery rooms to create 22 separate postpartum recovery rooms, expansion of the Special Care Nursery and upgrade of two cesarean section rooms, according to the hospital.

Urban said the hospital has also added more specific women’s surgeries, including more single-incision gynecological surgeries and breast surgeries. He said the expansion of robotic surgeries, which only require one incision, allows the patient to heal faster with less chance for infection.

“This is part of our commitment to expand minimally-invasive surgeries,” Urban said.

Urban said in order to conduct more breast surgeries, Mercy Health has hired Dr. Jaclyn Palmer, a fellowship-trained breast surgeon, to start Oct. 1 full time at Fairfield Hospital. He said Dr. Hilary Shapiro-Wright has been coming a couple days a week for breast surgeries.

“We will offer more breast surgeries now,” Urban said.

Urban said the hospital also opened a Breast Health Center within its outpatient diagnostic service area. In the realm of breast imaging, Dr. Amy Argus was hired at the hospital and started July 1.

West Chester Hospital earlier this year expanded women's services in a huge way by adding maternity services.

Tom Daskalakis, vice president and chief operating officer at West Chester Hospital, said usually hospitals have a maternity unit before they add complementary service lines, but West Chester did it in reverse.

The hospital has delivered over 50 babies since April and the rate is growing monthly, Daskalakis said.

He said the hospital offers “fully comprehensive” women’s health services from adolescent health to geriatric and menopausal disorders, including fertility, gynecology oncology specialized in pelvic cancers, and urogynecology for bladder disorders after giving birth.

“Everything A to Z; it’s truly a niche women’s center,” Daskalakis said.