One expecting mother, Elisa Summers, just moved to Rockville from New York and said she likes that the facility is brand new.
‘‘I’m really excited for the individual rooms, that’s the big kicker,” Summers said.
The unit offers 48 private postpartum rooms for mothers. At 205 square feet, the rooms are more than double the size of the hospital’s current semi-private rooms.
Tiffany Hudok from Silver Spring is due on Nov. 22 and is hoping to have her baby at Shady Grove.
‘‘It’s a very nice, natural setting,” Hudok said. ‘‘Everything a mother could need after the ordeal. Very homey.”
Hospital officials say the interior design of the unit was made to be just that: like home.
The walls are painted muted colors of blue, green and mauve. Matching furniture, low lighting and artwork on the walls are meant to create a ‘‘therapeutic healing environment,” Rebecca Beauchamp, vice president and chief nurse executive, said.
Creating a healing environment is part of the Planetree efforts the hospital is following in the construction of its new tower, which houses the mother⁄baby unit.
Planetree is a national nonprofit organization that assists hospitals in creating a healing environment that is centered on the patient. Shady Grove is a member of the program.
Joanne Ogaitis, who works in the hospital’s administration office, is three months pregnant and is excited about delivering at Shady Grove. She delivered her 2-year-old daughter Allie in the old wing and said the environment of the new unit is ‘‘calming and very soothing.”
‘‘If you’re looking to rest and have an intimate connection with family ... it allows for that,” Ogaitis said.
In addition to a larger space, the postpartum rooms offer private bathrooms, a desk with computer hook-ups, and a foldout couch so family members can stay overnight. Valves and other equipment are kept hidden behind wall art above the bed and each room is equipped with a bedside computer for caregivers to keep records.
Bassinets will be provided in each room so mothers can be with their babies.
In keeping with the family environment, the hospital has done away with a central nursing station and instead put in individual decentralized stations next to the patients’ rooms.
Instead of the central station, there is more community space for families. The family lounge is equipped with a kitchen where food can be prepared.
The four-story, 207,000-square-foot tower is the first piece of the hospital’s four-year, $100 million project to open. The tower will add 144 private patient rooms.
In addition to the mother⁄baby unit, the new tower will provide new space for patients in oncology, maternity, orthopedics, medicine, and pre- and post-surgical units.
The first floor will consist of the new surgical area, which will have 16 new operating rooms, making it the largest in the county, hospital officials reported.
By the end of the project, another 52,000 square feet will be renovated and the hospital will have the capacity for nearly 300 patient beds.
For Ogaitis, the biggest plus about her stay at Shady Grove was the level of nursing care.
‘‘That’s what was outstanding about that visit,” she said.
Summers agreed.
‘‘The facilities look great, but the real test is when I’m here,” she said. ‘‘It’s all about the nursing. To me, that’s the key to a good experience.”
