Press Date: 01/14/2010

A sparkling $9.5 million makeover of Women's Health services at Grant Medical Center offers exceptional medical care in spacious comfort.

Officially dedicated in a ceremony Jan. 13, the Ann Burba Crane Center for Women and Babies seamlessly combines Grant's Obstetrics, Gynecological and Breast Health services on the hospital's third and fourth floors.

Large, private rooms, an updated décor and amenities such as overnight stay space for parents and conveniently located waiting rooms maximize patient satisfaction and position the downtown hospital to meet the growing needs of expectant mothers for maternity care.

"The Center transforms one of the oldest facilities in Columbus to the newest and one of the nicest," said Gahanna obstetrician Michael Sprague, MD, the hospital's medical director of Women's Health. "It is a thoroughly modern, first-class overhaul that places us among the best maternity units in all central Ohio. We still have state-of-the art diagnostic and treatment equipment, but in a nicer space."

The third floor features eight private birthing suites with large family areas, including sleeper sofas, and patients' own bathrooms and showers; an enhanced high-risk pregnancy unit of five private rooms; an expanded five-room triage area that expedites testing and provides an area for  short term private observation; two new operating and recovery rooms; and The Nationwide Children's Hospital Newborn Special Care Unit with 17 private rooms that replace an open,    14-bed room for babies born prematurely, and those babies with conditions that require additional care.

"The new Special Care Nursery provides an environment that allows newborns and their families to bond," said Craig Anderson, MD, chair of Pediatrics at Grant. "With our Care-by-Parent room, we can allow parents to stay overnight and learn how to care for their special care newborns before they take them home."

The fourth floor is dedicated to postpartum care with a new Well-Baby Nursery and 27 larger private rooms - near the nursery - for mothers and their newborns and women undergoing surgery. The new center consolidates all of Grant's Women's Health services, including Gynecology and Breast Health, on two floors.

"This is not just a facility, but it is also a program, and a new way of thinking," said Brenda J. Sickle-Santanello, MD, medical director of Breast Health Services at Grant. "It is a natural extension of our dedication to women and will complement our overall focus on Women's Health at Grant."

Configuration of the Center promotes patient privacy, family support and mother-baby bonding. The birthing suites have baby areas in full view of the mothers and the Special Care Nursery includes a Care by Parent room that allows parents to stay with their babies and learn how to care for their babies at home. Connecting rooms keep newborn twins together "so mom doesn't feel torn between one baby and the other," said Anne Keller, CNP, administrative nurse manager of Labor and Delivery. "No detail was overlooked to provide the best possible care for our mothers and their babies, including support for their family members."

The contemporary design incorporates natural light, warm color schemes and nature-inspired design elements to create a soothing spa-like ambience intended to relax anxious mothers and improve outcomes.

"It is still a hospital, but it doesn't have a hospital feel," Dr. Sprague said. "The texture, colors, architecture and lighting just make it a calming and comfortable place for mothers to have their babies in a less institutional-looking setting."

The Center is named in honor of Ann Burba Crane, a lifelong Columbus resident, philanthropist and tireless advocate for happy and healthy families. Ann's husband, Jameson Crane, and all four of their children were born at Grant. After Ann passed away at Grant in March of 2007, the Jameson and Loann Crane families and the Crane Group made a major philanthropic investment to support the development of the Center.