After a number of appeals by North Fulton Regional Hospital and Emory Johns Creek Hospital, Northside now has final administrative approval for this much anticipated project. Northside will begin construction immediately once the state says the hospital may proceed.
"We are anxious to begin construction on this new facility and we look forward to providing the same level of high-quality care and comfort in Forsyth County and surrounding areas that we've been providing at our Atlanta campus for decades," says Bob Quattrocchi, President and CEO of Northside Hospital. "As a community hospital, we remain committed to growing along with the community. As such, we want to help ensure that the community has easier access to one of the nation's premier hospitals for maternity and newborn services."
Northside plans to construct a 103,000 square-foot facility that will include:
-Six Private Labor-Delivery -Recovery Rooms;
-16 Private Postpartum Rooms;
-Two C-Section Delivery Rooms with associated pre-op and PACU areas;
-A Normal Newborn Nursery featuring 24 bassinets;
-A Level II Neonatal Intermediate Care Unit (NICU) featuring four bassinets;
-Perinatal Diagnostic Services;
-Lactation Center;
-Admissions and other support areas.
"This is a major victory for our residents," Cumming Mayor Ford Gravitt said. "Soon, women will have the high-quality maternity and newborn services of Northside Hospital-Atlanta closer to home."
Forsyth County Commission Chairman, Charles Laughinghouse added "Northside's unique clinical and operational expertise in maternity and newborn services is second to none and we couldn't be happier to have that same level of specialized care in the heart of our community in the very near future."
More than 2,300 babies are born to Forsyth County residents every year. Of those, more than 70 percent are born at Northside Hospital's Atlanta campus. More than 1,500 mothers each year travel nearly 30 miles to deliver their babies at Northside. Once the Forsyth Women's Center is open, Northside expects over 1,700 obstetrical patients from Forsyth and Dawson counties will choose to deliver closer to home.
The Women's Center will be constructed to the Southwest of the main hospital and will be attached to the hospital via a connecting corridor or "galleria."
Once under construction, the Women's Center is expected to be complete in less than two years.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/3/93644