(Providence, RI) -- Women & Infants Hospital will embark on an historic initiative to rebuild its top-ranked but outmoded Labor and Delivery Unit, by enhancing birthing options, enlarging delivery rooms, and providing an equitable, state-of-the-art environment in which women can deliver their babies.
With the kickoff of the capital campaign to meet the financial obligations of the new building, Women & Infants seeks not only to raise capital but to include the entire community in its effort. One way it hopes to achieve this is with a campaign strategy that is different from any undertaken in its history.
The Hospital will connect with the Rhode Island community through storytelling, multi-media communications and online channels, in-person events, and grateful patient testimonials. Importantly, the campaign will involve and reflect the patient population served by Women & Infants – that population being remarkable for both its diversity and commitment to receiving in-state healthcare.
The new Labor and Delivery Center is designed to benefit all Rhode Island families - by positively impacting quality, safety, and clinical outcomes. In addition to the redesign of the labor, delivery, and recovery suite, the campaign will raise funds for the Women’s Health Research Institute. Over the course of the next 3 years, generous donors from all over Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts will have the opportunity to participate in this exciting initiative.
Plans for the new Labor & Delivery Center include larger rooms to accommodate a greater variety of birthing practices. And, the Women’s Health Research Institute will tackle important projects including much-needed health equity research. Ultimately, the new unit will help meet Women & Infants Hospital’s goal of eliminating disparities of care, as well as elevate every mother’s birthing experience.
Women & Infants Hospital is a regional, national, and world leader recognized for best-in-class specialty patient care for women and infants. It is also one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious research facilities in high-risk and normal obstetrics, as well as gynecological and newborn pediatrics. Approximately 80% of all babies born in Southern New England every year are born at Women & Infants.
“For generations, families have turned to Women & Infants Hospital with the utmost trust to receive expert care in women’s health, especially for their labor and delivery needs. It is our utmost goal to continue to care for generations to come, by offering the best possible care in the most comfortable and medically advanced environment. This is not only a core mission of Women & Infants Hospital, it is a personal goal of mine, having had all three of my children here.” said Shannon Sullivan, President and COO, Women & Infants Hospital.
Among its notable distinctions, Women & Infants Hospital has been recognized as a Baby-Friendly USA hospital. US News and World Report ranked Women & Infants Hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology the 12th best in the nation.
The Campaign’s two Honorary Co-chairs, Alan Hassenfeld and Anne Szostak, are venerated business and philanthropic leaders who are committed to top-notch healthcare in the State.
Campaign Steering Committee Chair, Judith Remondi, has been an avid supporter of Women & Infants Hospital since giving birth to her son twenty years ago. She is not only a grateful patient, after receiving emergency care in the ED eight weeks before her son was born, but she is also a longstanding donor. She is committed to making the new Labor and Delivery unit a reality so that all women have access to the exceptional care she experienced as a patient.
“It has always been, and remains, our responsibility to set the benchmark for standards of care so that the start to every baby’s life is as comfortable, safe, and joyful as possible. But, we can’t do it alone,” stated Remondi, who is also a Women & Infants Hospital Foundation Board Member and Care New England Board Member. “We need the entire community to participate in the campaign, whether it’s a $100 or $1 million dollar gift.”
Remondi is most proud of the all-women campaign steering committee she recruited, a first for W&I. Another first: that 7 committee members are women of color, representing the diverse communities that Women & Infants Hospital serves. This esteemed working group recognizes that the Labor & Delivery campaign is critical to the future of women’s healthcare in Rhode Island.
Copyright © 2023 Care New England Health System