Woodland Heights Medical Center will soon offer its own transport team for babies needing care in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Beginning April 18, Woodland Heights will have an ambulance stationed at the facility 24 hours a day, at the ready to pick up babies locally and in the surrounding area that need a higher level of care.
“This is one of our growing resources available to serve the needs of our smallest patients who need extra help at a critical time,” states Kyle Swift, CEO of Woodland Heights. “The addition of this transport team proves a commitment to doing what it takes to offer these babies access to care quickly.”
Nurses and staff have been through extensive training with medical transport professionals and are prepared to stabilize and transport these babies from local facilities or facilities further within the large deep east Texas region Woodland Heights serves. Previously, a transport team from Houston had to transport infants to the hospital. Now, this service will be offered locally and save precious time in getting these fragile patients the treatment and care they need.
This addition is timely as the facility began a $9.8 million construction project last year, part of which will increase the number of NICU beds from 6 to 15, growing the footprint of the unit that opened in 2013. Since then, the physicians and staff in the NICU have cared for more than 200 babies.
About Woodland Heights Medical Center
Established in 1918, Woodland Heights Medical Center was Lufkin’s first hospital. Now, more than nine decades later, Woodland Heights is recognized throughout Deep East Texas as the leading provider of high quality, innovative health care services. Accommodating a wide range of clinical specialties, Woodland Heights has achieved excellence in key medical and surgical areas including cardiology, pulmonology, neurology, orthopedic surgery, physical medicine/rehabilitation, vascular surgery and obstetrics and gynecology. Woodland Heights also offers a full range of outpatient diagnostic services including advanced imaging, laboratory, outpatient surgery and emergency services. Through its Rehabilitation Center, Woodland Heights offers cardiac rehabilitation, stroke recovery and physical and occupational rehabilitation. The facility also houses the only Level 2 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the deep East Texas area. Woodland Heights is directly or indirectly owned by a partnership that proudly includes physician owners, including certain members of the hospital’s medical staff. Combining modern facilities, leading technology, an exceptional staff and a commitment to the communities it serves, Woodland Heights Medical Center remains at the forefront of quality health care in Deep East Texas.