In offering services such as those specifically for women outside the hospital, healthcare organizations are able to tailor the patient environment in such a way that is not restricted to a hospital’s limitations.

 

Women’s healthcare needs obviously differ significantly from men’s. Historically, women put themselves last in providing for their own healthcare. Offering a convenient, one-stop facility for all their healthcare needs outside the hospital environment could and should help women overcome this tendency.

 

Additionally, women’s symptoms and diseases often differ biologically. While many hospitals tout their women’s facilities, few go beyond offering more than imaging services. In offering healthcare for women in a separate facility such as a designated women’s center, healthcare organizations can go beyond obstetrics and gynecology to include healthcare for conditions that exist only in women, are more common in women, or are biologically different in women.

 

Healthcare services offered at the Dorothy Mangurian Comprehensive Women’s Center include primary care, gynecology, diagnostic imaging, urogynecology, oncology, general surgery, breast surgery, endocrinology, rheumatology, cardiology, osteoporosis treatment, and bone density screenings. The Jeane M. Dorini Women’s Imaging and Diagnostic Suite serves as the nucleus of this comprehensive center, offering advanced breast imaging including digital mammography, minimally invasive diagnostic procedures, stereotactic breast biopsy, bone density studies and ultrasonography.

 

Already ranked among the top five percent of hospitals in the nation and 5-star rated for the treatment of maternity care and women’s health according to HealthGrades, Holy Cross is elevating the level of care and support women receive outside the hospital in opening the all-in-one Women’s Center. This could become a national model for other healthcare organizations around the country.

 

The establishment of an off-site center like the Dorothy Mangurian Comprehensive Women’s Center translates into more space and thus more services offered. Services outside the hospitals are performed in a more efficient and timely manner leading to higher patient satisfaction. Facilities offering services away from the hospital are typically smaller and therefore less intimidating. Outside facilities can be built or renovated to offer a welcoming, soothing more contemporary environment, which studies have shown are particularly important to women.

 

Traditional hospital settings are typically limited by space constraints while outside facilities are not. Future plans for the Women’s Center include special programming, a medical spa, a meditation chapel, a lifestyle center, education center and a Heart Healthy Café.

 

Cost can be a factor when deciding to offer services away from the hospital, but through creative fundraising initiatives targeted to current and future patients, new healthcare facilities can become a reality. The $15 million Women’s Center is funded entirely through philanthropy, including $5 million in donations from the Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. Foundation and nearly 100 pledges for $5,000 from “Girlfriends,” women in the community who each made a pledge as lifelong members of the Dorothy Mangurian Comprehensive Women’s Center.