Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Begins Family of Cooperative Facilities

		Susan Gatzmeier, from Chelan, Wash., received several months of high-risk prenatal care at UW Medical Center.

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology experienced a growth spurt this past year. Construction was completed on the new Obstetrics and Gynecology Unit at UW Medical Center. The department also, in collaboration with the UW Department of Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, opened up cooperative clinics at Providence Everett Medical Center and Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland, Wash.

“UW Medical Center now has the most modern delivery unit in Seattle,” said Dr. David Eschenbach, professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology. “We’ve always had the best doctors and high-risk unit. Now we’ve put together an attractive facility with a lot of choices for patients.”

During the two years of construction, the unit never closed. The UW’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has 29 faculty physicians, seven Ph.D. investigators, 11 fellows, four certified nurse-midwives, and 24 residents in training, and works closely with nurses and staff on the labor and delivery unit.

In 2002, a Level III Intensive Care Nursery opened at Evergreen Hospital. The nursery is part of a new Women’s and Children’s Services floor that includes a Level II Special Care Nursery, antepartum services for women with preterm labor or complex conditions, and a new pediatrics unit. UW faculty and members of the Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center provided training for Evergreen staff and helped develop the unit.

At Providence Everett this year, UW and Children’s Hospital physicians also facilitated the opening of the Pavilion for Women and Children. The hospital already had a Level III Intensive Care Nursery and provides training for medical students, obstetrics and gynecology residents, and anesthesiology residents.

Before the cooperative agreement with the UW, these clinics would refer patients with abnormal or at-risk pregnancies to the UW and newborns requiring medical treatment to Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center. UW neonatologists have been making rounds to outlying areas for more than 10 years. Now Everett and Kirkland have on-site perinatologists.

	The UW Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The cooperative clinics in the region are a boon to patients, and also to medical students, residents and UW researchers. Together the facilities in Everett and Kirkland see approximately 3,000 patients annually. This population dramatically increases the UW’s clinical services and also presents opportunities for research and education.

Eventually, Eschenbach would like to see UW involved in clinics in Bellingham, Yakima, and Wenatchee, Wash. A clinic at Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue is in also in the works.

“Over time we’ve seen a shift of where babies are born. Now more are born in the suburbs, instead of in Seattle,” said Dr. John Coombs, associate vice president for medical affairs, associate dean for regional affairs and rural health, and the Theodore J. Phillips Professor of Family Medicine. “Our regional partnerships magnify the benefits of the UW’s programs by providing more immediate access to vital perinatal and neonatal health care for high-risk mothers and their infants.”