NEENAH—ThedaCare announced the creation of an Obstetrical Emergency Department (OB-ED) and Hospitalist Program to help ensure access to comprehensive, safe care for expectant mothers and babies in Northeast and Central Wisconsin.
“This program has the potential to impact not only our generation, but generations to come,” said Lynn Detterman, senior vice president of the ThedaCare South Region. “The commitment to implementing the OB-ED and Hospitalist Program can lead to healthier mothers and babies. And that will ultimately lead to healthier communities, which is ThedaCare’s mission. We are proud to enhance and create services to support our vision.”
ThedaCare is working with provider partners to develop best practices in care for expectant mothers, which can help improve patient outcomes and experience, and continue advancing maternal care in the area. Typically located in a labor and delivery unit, providers in the OB-ED can care for pregnant women who come to the hospital for obstetrical concerns such as abdominal pain or bleeding. The program would operate around the clock, and be staffed by board-certified physician specialists.
“The OB-ED and Hospitalist Program can redefine the standard of women’s care in the hospital setting to help continue safe patient care,” said Dr. Eric Eberts, department chair of obstetrics at ThedaCare. “Because a trained physician evaluates every patient, our goal is that expectant mothers can leave the hospital with peace of mind, focusing on the health and well-being of their family.”
Through this OB-ED and program, women who are more than 16 weeks pregnant would bypass the emergency department and go directly to an obstetrical triage area located in the Family Birth Center at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah.This program will supplement the care of a woman’s OB provider. Her doctor will continue to provide care in the facility. The program ensures a highly specialized doctor to be available to evaluate a woman immediately, without waiting for the patient’s doctor to arrive on site, or providing a consultation over-the-phone.
“The OB-ED and hospitalist program can help ensure that expectant mothers continue to receive timely, specialized care for themselves and their babies,” said Eberts.“We will have providers with the patient, ready to step in to provide care and help improve outcomes and peace of mind.”
Eberts said that the program aims to provide support for ThedaCare’s other hospitals, including those in rural communities. For example, providers can deliver telehealth consultations alongside providers at other campuses.
In 2022, ThedaCare announced a $100 million investment to enhance and expand services at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah. As a part of the Modernization Project, the Family Birth Center at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah will be updated, which will include the addition of triage beds for the OB-ED.
Enhancements to better the patient experience at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah were funded in part through donors who support the ThedaCare Foundation-Neenah, with more than $15 million contributed to date.
The creation of an OB-ED and Hospitalist Program is an important milestone in ThedaCare’s history. Before her sudden passing at age 32 in 1903, just three days after giving birth to her only child, Theda Clark Peters directed a significant portion of her estate to be used to build a hospital in Neenah so that people in the community would have local access to medical care. On October 18, 1909, the sixth birthday for Theda’s daughter, ThedaCare opened its first doors.
“The creation of the OB-ED and Hospitalist Program can help ensure mothers and babies have the most up-to-date technology, and facilities designed with patients in mind to allow care teams to continue to offer the right care, in the right place,” Detterman said.
The OB-ED and Hospitalist Program is set to begin in late summer 2023.
