ST. FRANCIS TO DELIVER NEW OBSTETRICS UNIT

St. Francis Medical Center officials expect to complete construction of an obstetrics unit by this time next year, administrators announced Tuesday night at a dinner celebrating the hospital's 125th anniversary.

Steven Bjelich, president and CEO of St. Francis Medical Center, said construction of the unit, which is expected to cost around $800,000, will go up for bids as soon as drawings are complete and approved by city engineers and planning officials.

The unit will be built on the second floor of the existing auto pavilion, which formerly was home to the hospital's skilled nursing facility. It will feature five suites in which expectant mothers can go through labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum care without having to leave their rooms.

Equipping the unit is expected to cost another $600,000, Bjelich said.

The suites will be private with private baths and showers. Bjelich said the hospital surveyed more than 400 women to determine what they wanted in an ideal obstetrics unit.

"I think it's very important to realize that, when we interviewed women through focus groups, they gave us what they wanted, what they were looking for," Bjelich said. "We designed our entire unit around their input. That makes it unique."

Harry Rediger, chairman of the board at St. Francis, said he is eager to see construction of the new unit begin.

"The board of directors is excited to return this important component of care to St. Francis," he said. "We have had many St. Francis families express to us their reluctance to leave St. Francis for their deliveries."

Currently, only Southeast Missouri Hospital has an obstetrics unit in Cape Girardeau.

St. Francis delivered babies from 1925 until 1966, doing away with its services shortly before moving to its current location on the west side of town.

When maternity service was discontinued at St. Francis, officials said it was because obstetrics beds at both Cape Girardeau hospitals were not always filled and that the administration believed one of the hospitals could accommodate all maternity needs.

In 1999, Southeast Missouri Hospital delivered about 1,600 babies, and its 28-bed obstetrics unit had an average occupancy rate of 30 percent.

Bjelich said St. Francis' construction of the new unit is not a matter of competition, the hospital merely wanted to expand its women's services.

"We've got women who are asking for an alternative and we're going to be able to provide that for them."