Tuesday, May 27, 2008

New Security System on Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare’s Maternity and Pediatrics Units

On Wednesday, May 28, 2008, a security system will be activated at Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare (FSLH) that will offer additional security and protection to the organization’s smallest patients. In a 2005 study by the National Center on Missing & Exploited Children and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, there were 116 infants abducted from healthcare facilities in the last two decades. Eighty-five percent of the abductions were within the areas including mother’s room, nursery and pediatrics. Having one child abducted is too many.

The new security system for Maternity, Labor & Delivery, Nursery and Pediatrics, which was funded by the Children’s Miracle Network of the Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare Foundation, includes locked doorways that can only be accessed by swiping Staff ID badges at the entrance or by calling the unit using the telephone available at each unit entrance.

The number of family members to Labor & Delivery will also be limited. Only two can be present in the delivery room and they will be identified by purple wrist bands.

Unique to the new system is the change in access for the two elevators located directly across from the Medical Records Office. The elevators will continue to have public access for the Ground, First and Second floors, but no public access to the Third Floor where Maternity and Labor & Delivery are located.

The Admitting staff (available 24-hours-a-day) can access the unit directly via the two elevators across from Medical Records by using a special swipe card. They can also call the unit and let them know when the mother is coming up on the main bank of elevators. If the mother arrives through the Emergency Department, the ED staff will make a call to the floor to let staff know the mother is coming.

There were more than 2,100 births at The Birthplace of Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare in 2007. It is the only hospital in the area with a Level II Special Care Nursery and Neonatologists on call 24-hours-a-day.

For more information, contact Faxton-St. Luke's Healthcare at 315-624-5600 or visit faxtonstlukes.com