Women & Infants Hospital has been cleared by Dr. David R. Gifford, the state health director, to build a $64-million, five-story addition to its main building, including a new neonatal intensive-care unit, but only after agreeing to build new community partnerships.
Specifically, the hospital agreed to develop a pilot program to ensure continued care for fragile infants who come out of its NICU, in collaboration with the state Department of Human Services, RIte Care payors, and physicians in health centers, hospitals and private practice.
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In addition, the hospital agreed to expand its work with health and social service providers in the community to better care for women in high-risk pregnancies, help lead statewide research on low birth weight infants, and improve patient services at its Women’s Primary Care Center, extending its hours and providing at least an after-hours phone line.
The conditions, to which Women & Infants President and CEO Constance A. Howes did not object, were attached to the project approval last Tuesday by the state Health Services Council, which advises the health director on “certificate of need” applications.
The council, which went on to approve the project unanimously, was responding to concerns from community-based health care providers and from Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher F. Koller. The council’s Project Review Committee, which had been examining the hospital’s plan since July, had unanimously recommended approval two weeks earlier.
The addition, which along with the new NICU will include 30 new obstetric beds and more space for family services, is the biggest building project for Women & Infants since it opened its building at Gay and Dudley Streets 19 years ago.
The 144,500-square-foot addition would increase the building’s size by 54 percent. To pay for the project, the hospital plans to borrow $30 million in tax-exempt bonds, raise $16 million from donors, and get the remaining $18 million from equity funds.
The single biggest reason for the expansion, as Howes has described it, is the severe overcrowding of the current neonatal intensive-care unit, which was built for 41 infants but now serves, on average, about 65 babies each day. The new NICU would accommodate 80 infants, and would incorporate a whole new model of care, with individual rooms, instead of a big common area – an approach that research has shown leads to better health outcomes.
Women & Infants delivers about 73 percent of all babies born in the state – over 9,600 last year, more than any other New England hospital – and it serves as a regional hub for women and babies who need the most advanced and intensive medical services.
