Regions Hospital Family Birth Center Named a Top Project of 2020
Five Kraus-Anderson projects were named Top Projects of 2020 by Finance & Commerce. Projects are judged for their degree of difficulty, creativity in design, innovative construction techniques, cooperation among contractors and management, and sustainability efforts. Designed by BWBR Architects, the Regions Hospital Family Birth Center earned a Top Project award.
The 160,000-square-foot Regions Hospital Birthing Center is a four-story expansion to the hospital, providing state-of-the-art care for mothers and their newborn babies. The Regions Birth Center features larger rooms and family-friendly amenities, hydrotherapy tubs, postpartum suites, and “couplet care” that allows mothers and their newborn babies to be treated in the same room. The innovative care model will help serve Regions’ diverse patient demographic. The new space is intentional about accommodating patients’ needs. Other elements include water birth suites, larger delivery and post-partum rooms, dedicated spaces for families and visitors and an expanded neonatal intensive care unit for infants as young as 28 weeks.
The Regions Birth Center enhanced couplet care rooms are the first of their kind in Minnesota, and makes Regions one of the first hospitals in the Midwest to use the couplet care model. This progressive birthing model is designed to keep families together in the event that a newborn needs a higher level of care, but doesn’t need to go to the NICU. Keeping mother and baby together, whenever possible, helps improve health outcomes from the whole family. These rooms are more flexible to accommodate multiple birth as well as larger and culturally diverse families.
The Regions Hospital Birthing Center focuses on quality, family-centered care and health equity for Regions’ diverse demographic of patients in Saint Paul. 60% of Regions’ birthing patients are women of color, and 25% of those women need an interpreter for care. Statistics show that women of color are at a higher risk for pregnancy-related complications. The facility is intentional about accommodating patients’ needs, with larger patient rooms that provide more amenities for new mothers and their newborn babies. A small refrigerator is in each patient’s rooms so mothers can bring their own meals for special nutritional needs – a practice that is common within the Regions Hospital diverse population, particularly the Hmong community. Cultural considerations are embedded into the facility, including large family waiting spaces and wayfinding signage within the building that include seven different languages. The Regions Hospital Birthing Center is serving Saint Paul and the surrounding community by building health equity and providing its diverse population of patients with top-notch healthcare.
View Comments