Labour and delivery… in comfort? That’s the take on two new family rooms in Sturgeon Community Hospital’s obstetrics unit.
The rooms were redesigned and renovated last year and since then have proved very popular with new moms and dads, despite an extra charge comparable to a stay in a hotel room.
“It was overwhelming,” said Katrina Black, the executive director of the Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation.
The new family rooms are available on a first-come, first-served basis. They have all the amenities of home complete with a queen-sized bed, comfortable lounge chair and laminate flooring, and for $125 a night. The cost includes the use of a telephone and TV, plus laundry service. The bed is fitted with fine linens and there’s a bouncer chair in the corner that makes it easier for women to get up from a sitting position.
Doreen Desmond, the unit’s program manager, added they’re so popular that there is a steady stream of requests for the space.
Normally the unit would only serve pregnant mothers before and after delivery. Even though the new rooms are still mostly used for ante- and post-partum care, women can actually deliver in the suite if circumstances warrant it. This added capability marks a new phase of continuous care for the facility.
“We have delivered a couple of babies here on this unit already and plan to do more,” Desmond says.
For the Turko family, it was just a pleasure to be able to stay in the suite for a few nights last week after new mom Gerri-Lynn delivered her daughter by Caesarean section. Husband Travis agrees it just made the experience more pleasant and the money was going back to the foundation.
“It’s just more homey,” he said.
The $40,000 hospital improvement was made possible through an anonymous donation to the foundation from a local family. All proceeds from renting the rooms go straight back to the hospital foundation and will stay within women’s health programs, including future upgrades to the rooms.
The foundation is also putting on one of its two major fundraisers this weekend. The 19th annual Friendraiser Gala takes place on Saturday at the Sutton Place Hotel in downtown Edmonton, complete with live and silent auctions. Tickets are still available at $100 each. Proceeds from the event will help fund a technologically enhanced room to improve teaching and care.
“We have an amazing community that is always behind us. We’re very lucky,” Black said.
Call 780-418-7361 or visit www.sturgeonhospitalfoundation.org for more information.
