THERE is a more relaxed, homely feel to Ballarat Health Services’ new base for women in their pregnancy journey.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
BHS maternity outpatient nurse unit manager Tonia Mitchell said patients and staff seemed to beam when they walked through the front gate and up the garden path on Monday, when the department re-opened at its new Mair Street location.
“There us a warm feeling, a more friendly feeling, and a lot of people have come in not knowing what to expect,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Everyone’s enjoying the homliness. It no longer has the real clinical feel and the business of the ground floor. We’re still close enough to the hospital if things are needed more urgently.”
Staff worked to relocate from the ground floor of the BHS Base Hospital, where they had been near the emergency department, taking two days to make the move.
The department has shifted to 1011 Mair Street, right next to the hospital’s multistorey car park. It has its own off-street parking for patients.
BHS’ busy maternity outpatient department has about 80 to 90 women visit each day in morning and afternoon clinics, from antenatal care through to home visits after a baby is born.
Ms Mitchell said the Ballarat department had been increasingly taking on women from Horsham, Ararat and Maryborough for more complex medical conditions in pregnancy.
The department averages about 1300 babies born each year.
All the same services are still on offer in the department, which retains the same phone and fax details, it was just in a new location.
Maternity support services include: consultant medical clinics for high-risk pregnancy; antenatal clinic endocrinology; midwives clinics; maternity day assessment service for complications that require a short admission for monitoring; extended postnatal service homecare; and, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander care.
Ms Mitchell said the new location was about the same size as the old base and, while near capacity, felt less rushed.