by Jill Clendening
Expectant women in Clarksville, Montgomery County and the surrounding area will soon benefit from around-the-clock, enhanced medical care during their labor and delivery through a collaboration between Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville to establish an OB-GYN hospitalist program.
Set to launch in mid-September, the on-site program will provide oversight of expectant patients’ obstetric care until their obstetrician arrives to assume their care. The program will also support any OB-GYN emergencies seen within the emergency department at the Clarksville hospital. Clinical providers serving as OB-GYN hospitalists will be based within Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville’s Family Birth Center and will be solely dedicated to providing this care.
“VUMC and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology are very excited to collaborate with Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville to launch this OB-GYN hospitalist service,” said Ronald Alvarez, MD, MBA, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “This puts our board-certified physicians on-site, working alongside the hospital’s physicians and nursing team, to provide exceptional, accessible care for expectant women until their obstetrician arrives.”
“The program offers expectant patients and their family members the peace of mind of knowing a specialist is always ready to provide care, no matter what the circumstance. This service will also complement the Level II neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville which is staffed by neonatology physicians and neonatal nurse practitioners provided by Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.”
Six to eight board-certified obstetrician/gynecologists from VUMC will serve as OB-GYN hospitalists at Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville, and the team will be led by William McIntosh, MD, a Clarksville obstetrician/gynecologist with more than three decades of experience in caring for women in Montgomery County and the surrounding area.
“For years, families in Montgomery County, upper Middle Tennessee and South Central Kentucky have trusted and relied upon the excellent labor and delivery services provided by the clinical teams at Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville,” said C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer for VUMC. “The new OB-GYN hospitalist program will enhance that coverage and provide a 24/7 resource for families as they welcome new arrivals.
“In addition, the OB-GYN hospitalists’ presence will allow them to easily support and collaborate with nurses and other clinical staff in the Family Birth Center and respond to any obstetrical emergency. This will help reduce risk and make care more accessible as we all work together to provide the very best, patient-centered care.”
OB-GYN hospitalist care is a model of care in increasing use in the United States, and is in contrast to the traditional model of obstetrical care in which clinicians often divide their time among seeing their patients in outpatient clinics, outpatient surgery centers and the hospital.
“Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville is excited about the launch of the new OB-GYN hospitalist program,” said Alex Villa, chief executive officer for Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville. “Our hospital delivers more than 1,900 babies each year, and this is a way to continue to provide the exceptional care our families in Clarksville and the surrounding area have grown to expect.
“Every labor is different, and every mother’s needs during labor and delivery are unique, so having a board-certified obstetrician at the hospital at all times will ensure the care our mothers receive is prompt and personalized.”
Jeffrey Anderson, MD, immediate past chair of the Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville medical staff and an obstetrician in Clarksville, added, “The services provided by the OB-GYN Hospitalist program will add another layer of safety and quality to the obstetrical care that we provide at Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville’s Family Birth Center. Our local obstetricians will continue to provide inpatient care and deliver their private patients. The safety net provided through the new OB-GYN Hospitalist program is a wonderful benefit for our community of new parents and babies.”
