Kirkland-based EvergreenHealth approves plan to ppen OB unit in Monroe

Kirkland-based EvergreenHealth recently approved plans to expand its obstetric (OB) care and establish inpatient maternity services at EvergreenHealth Monroe Hospital. The long-term plan will include expanding prenatal, gynecology and obstetrical outpatient services at the EvergreenHealth Women's Care, Monroe practice, while simultaneously advancing clinical and facility plans to open an inpatient unit at EvergreenHealth Monroe Hospital to meet the growing needs of families in east Snohomish County.

April 8, 2016 6:30 am
EvergreenHealth - Contributed art
EvergreenHealth - Contributed art

Kirkland-based EvergreenHealth recently approved plans to expand its obstetric (OB) care and establish inpatient maternity services at EvergreenHealth Monroe Hospital. The long-term plan will include expanding prenatal, gynecology and obstetrical outpatient services at the EvergreenHealth Women’s Care, Monroe practice, while simultaneously advancing clinical and facility plans to open an inpatient unit at EvergreenHealth Monroe Hospital to meet the growing needs of families in east Snohomish County.

In advance of inpatient OB services resuming in Monroe, the health system will focus on increasing the number of providers and patients served at the EvergreenHealth Women’s Care, Monroe practice. The practice, which currently includes Dr. Suzanne Hopkins and Dr. Pilar Baquero, will eventually expand to three physicians. Patients seen at the practice will initially deliver their babies at EvergreenHealth Kirkland, until patient volume increases to allow inpatient services to open in Monroe. Timing for the opening of the unit is dependent on the volume of patients and the development of the clinical and facility plans, and the health system anticipates it to occur in the next few years.

“As we continually seek to expand our care and services in east Snohomish County, we are dedicated to advancing planning for an OB unit that would reflect the high standard of clinical care, consistent with the EvergreenHealth model, which has been recognized with the World Health Organization’s Baby-Friendly Hospital designation,” said EvergreenHealth CEO Bob Malte. “This plan reflects our health system’s goal of growing services thoughtfully in the communities we serve.”

The hospital’s previous inpatient obstetric unit closed in 2011 when EvergreenHealth Monroe was still known as Valley General Hospital, prior to the organization joining the EvergreenHealth system. The plans for the new OB unit, which would include five birthing suites, call for it to be re-established in the existing space; requiring a remodel and an investment in new equipment and technology. The planned unit would be designed to accommodate normal, low-risk deliveries and planned cesarean sections. More complex deliveries would be directed to the EvergreenHealth Family Maternity Center in Kirkland.

“EvergreenHealth Monroe is pleased to announce our commitment to a comprehensive OB/GYN service line that would adhere to the high standard of care, compliance, service, safety and quality standards for which EvergreenHealth system is known,” said Eric Jensen, chief administrative officer, EvergreenHealth Monroe. “The planning for a new OB unit is symbolic of our dedication to full-service inpatient and outpatient health care services in east Snohomish County.”

This plan joins the many recent improvements and growth initiatives deployed at EvergreenHealth Monroe, since it finalized its alliance with the EvergreenHealth system in March 2015. These improvements include a record number of primary care visits in 2015, a new primary care practice in Sultan, the opening of Fairfax Behavioral Health inpatient adult unit in January 2016 and a new Emergency Care provider group of all board-certified emergency medicine physicians.

For more information about EvergreenHealth Monroe, visit www.evergreenhealthmonroe.com.