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2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 12:25 PM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

Leslie Powell, Ottawa, holds her 5-week-old son, Heath Alexander Powell, Sunday afternoon at her home on South Cedar Street in Ottawa. Leslie and her husband, Jason Powell, decided to give birth to both of their sons at Ransom Memorial Hospital in Ottawa. “We loved our doctor, and didn’t want to go out of town,” Leslie Powell said. “Plus, it’s right down the street.”

Born in Ottawa?

Parents debate hospital choice

By VICKIE MOSS, Herald Public Affairs Editor

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

Construction crews work Friday on a new $8.8 million project at Ransom Memorial Hospital, 1301 S. Main St., Ottawa. The addition will feature suite-style patient rooms, four new operating rooms, a six-bed recovery room, a new OB/GYN unit, six labor recovery rooms and two female-only rooms.

It’s close to home.

When Leslie Powell, Ottawa, recently was pregnant with her second child, it made sense to have the baby at Ransom Memorial Hospital, 1301 S. Main St.

The hospital is just down the street from her home. Her family care physician would be able to do the delivery, and her first son was born there.

“I had a lot of questions [after the birth],” Powell said. “I called them all the time with questions in the middle of the night, and they were very helpful.”

Her second son, Heath Alexander, was born at the hospital Aug. 13.

But Powell is among a minority of Ottawa parents who choose to have a baby at Ransom Memorial Hospital.

The hospital delivers about 40 percent of local births, statistics from the state and hospital show.

The hospital’s Special Deliveries Unit delivered 668 babies between 2004 and 2007, compared to 1,518 babies born to Franklin County parents during the same time period, a rate of about 44 percent, according to figures from the Kansas Hospital Association and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. That doesn’t take into account the number of babies born at Ransom who live in another county.

Hospital officials like Larry Felix, chief executive officer, said there are several reasons people chose another hospital: Ransom Memorial Hospital is not equipped to handle really difficult pregnancies, it doesn’t offer a traditional epidural and the facilities are outdated.

It is hoped an $8.8 million renovation project that includes a new delivery unit will attract more local parents by providing modern amenities that parents want with the birth of a baby, Felix said.

Modern choices

Improved labor and delivery facilities might have made a difference to Kendra Guyett, Williamsburg.

Her daughter, Kylee Michelle, was born June 4 at Olathe Medical Center. Her son, Braxton, 2, also was born at Olathe.

Guyett said she doesn’t have anything against Ransom Memorial Hospital; she had a difficult time with her first pregnancy and wanted to deliver at a hospital better prepared to handle any possible complications.

That’s one of the reasons local doctors actually recommend some patients go to a different hospital, Felix said. He acknowledges Ransom does not have a neonatal intensive care unit, which is needed if something goes wrong.

Even with the renovation, that probably won’t change. The hospital likely won’t invest in an expensive neonatal intensive care unit because such cases are not as common, he said.

“Our family doctors do a great job of delivery and do a great job screening who should go somewhere with a more intensive level of care,” he said. “Overall, our philosophy is to do the things we do very well and not try to do everything.”

Instead, the hospital’s improved labor and delivery unit will include amenities like a whirlpool tub, a nursery and larger rooms that can better accommodate family members.

Those are some of the things Guyett was looking for when she was pregnant, she said. She is familiar with Ransom’s labor and delivery unit, having worked an internship there during high school. Her children’s physician is from Ottawa, too, and there are many things she likes about the Ottawa hospital.

“It’s a great hospital; I’d recommend anybody to go there,” Guyett said. “There’s just more nurses in Olathe, and the rooms are bigger and nicer.”

Epidural versus intrathecal

Leslie Powell was surprised by the pain medication she received during the birth of her second child.

She believes she received an epidural, but it wasn’t what she was expecting.

“I was numb from the waist down, and I could feel everything,” she said. “It didn’t get rid of the pain, but it helped ease it.”

Actually, mothers in labor at Ransom Memorial Hospital do not receive a traditional epidural — they can receive an intrathecal. Both involve injection of an anesthetic into the spinal area. An intrathecal, also called a “walking epidural,” blocks pain receptors without deadening nerves and the mother still can get out of bed and walk around, according to www.childbirth.org .

But the lack of a traditional epidural is another reason some families don’t choose RMH, Felix said.

“The main thing is marketing,” he said. “People have learned the name epidural and they want one, even if they don’t know what it is.”

Along with the improved facilities, hospital officials hope to offer more pain management options, Felix said. That could include epidurals.

Felix said he hopes that makes a difference for parents considering Ransom for delivery.

Future needs

In addition to the improved labor and delivery unit, the hospital’s two-year renovation project will improve patient rooms and expand surgery facilities, Felix said. In addition, it will feature suite-style patient rooms, four new operating rooms and a six-bed recovery room. The current OB/GYN unit will be converted to an eight-bed intensive care unit area.

The improved facilities will replace a unit built in 1974 and should be able to meet the medical needs of the community for the next 20 or 30 years, Felix said.

“The new facility will be designed as an OB unit and will have all the amenities and configuration one would see in any modern OB unit,” Felix said. “We’re going to have good facilities to take care of the people that are here.”