Dear Colleagues,
As a neuromuscular physician, I see children with muscular dystrophy in the Pediatric and Adolescent Specialty Clinic at Women's Hospital. Before I served at a recent clinic, I had the pleasure of rounding on the inpatient units at Women's Hospital with Elise Lemberger, RN, who was serving as house manager that day.
Women's Hospital looks different than it did just a few short months ago when the majority of our pediatric services relocated to our University Hospital campus. After rounding, I can assure you that our Women's Hospital very much remains a busy medical center.
Our Labor and Delivery Unit on the third floor of Women's Hospital remains very busy. In the month of January, we welcomed more than 180 newborns, and fiscal year to date, more than 1,500 newborns have been delivered at Women's Hospital. When I visited the unit, I was able to meet several members of the team, including Crystal Cook, RN, who was the charge nurse that shift, Dr. Breton Barrier and resident physician Dr. Alex Finlinson. We were accompanied by Dr. Jean Ricci Goodman, the new chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, who joined us in December from Loyal University Medical Center in Chicago.
One floor up is our Maternal-Newborn Unit where Leigh Ann Lamont, RN, was supervising. I was thrilled to meet clinical care team associate Rita Gill, who has served on the unit caring for mid-Missouri mothers and children for 28 years! The entire environment is very baby friendly with moms and newborns in the same room. I was also able to meet the teams in our Neonatal ICU, which has the capacity to care for more than 58 infants.
While several services have moved to the University Hospital campus as part of clinical campus integration efforts, we continue to actively serve our moms and babies at Women's Hospital until our new Children's Hospital and Birthing Center opens in 2024. Kudos to the entire team for making such a difference in our community!
Sincerely,
Rick Barohn, MD
Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs
University of Missouri
rbarohn@health.missouri.edu
