Renovations start at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center Women’s Center
One year after completing the largest expansion in the history of Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, the hospital has embarked on a new project to renovate its Women’s Center.
The $3 million renovation is intended to give the Women’s Center a more spa-like atmosphere and expand access to high-quality maternity care.
The first renovated rooms will be available in September, and the project is expected to be completed by early 2021.
Modern hospital design has moved away from the clinical settings of the past to offer spaces more relaxing for the people who will occupy them. Keeping with current design trends for labor and delivery spaces, the medical center’s vision for the Women’s Center focuses on the comfort of patients, both mother and newborn, and families, the hospital said in a press release.
The Women’s Center will provide a peaceful environment for women at every stage of labor, from admission to delivery and postpartum. The lobby will be modernized to offer a welcoming atmosphere to expectant mothers as they arrive.
To emphasize hospitality, the new reception and waiting areas will feature a backlit reception desk. Corridors will be updated with artwork, warmer finishes and new lighting to avoid the often-sterile atmosphere of hospitals. Further departing from the hospital feel, entryways to each room will be enhanced with decorative soffits, new lighting and custom signage.
Labor and delivery rooms will receive new finishes and amenities, including personalized lighting control for expectant mothers, added space for family members and new equipment to assist with delivery. To aid with recovery after the baby’s birth, patient rooms will have the feel of a hotel room, with upgraded head wall finishes and furniture, large televisions and the option to hide or disguise clinical aspects of the room.
This renovation project will expand the Women Center’s capacity to 14 labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms, ensuring mothers and babies stay together in the same room throughout their stay. There are also plans for significant improvements to the staff areas of the Women’s Center, including a redesign of the nurse station for improved functionality and efficiency.
“Having a baby can be exciting but also very stressful for expecting parents. By providing them with a calm, serene environment, we can help to make them more relaxed and comfortable. The look and feel of the new Women’s Center will create a peaceful, warm environment, in which families can feel more like they are at home than in a hospital,” said Chrissy Coney, birth designer at the Women’s Center.
“The Birth Designer program gives them the education and support they need to feel at ease when coming in for their delivery and I believe the renovations will enhance this by providing a spa-like environment to go along with the amenities we offer, such as aromatherapy and music,” Coney said.
Last year’s major expansion added 28,000 square feet of space to the hospital. At the heart of that expansion was an 8,010-square-foot surgical suite with two brightly lit operating rooms, equipped with disinfecting lighting designed to kill harmful bacteria. The new surgical suite allowed the hospital to introduce less-intrusive robotic surgery.
The 2019 expansion also added a second cardiac catherization lab and a new service: electrophysiology, to perform studies for abnormal rhythms of the heart.
“After our completion of the $28.5 million expansion project, we are excited to start the Women’s Center Renovation. It is our goal to always improve our patient care and experience at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center,” Andy Guz, CEO of the hospital, said in the press release.
For more information about Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, visit https://www.lakewoodranchmedicalcenter.com/.
