Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Understands Women’s Unique Needs
By Nancy V. Mills, APR | Photos by Nesossi Studios –
At every stage of life, women need a trusted health partner that understands their unique needs. Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital is that partner. From maternity and children’s care to breast health and gynecological surgeries, women know they can count on Memorial Hermann for comprehensive and compassionate care throughout their lives.
Floris Brade, RNc; Ann Kingrey, RNc; Angella Mudd, RNc; Mitzi Hays, RN; Pam Ashley, Birth Registrar; Lidia Rodas, PCA; Amy Dillon, RNc; Jennifer Kinzie, RN; Maureen Ukpu, RN; Rachel Todd, RNc; Charlotte Light, RNc and Theresa Kulcak, RN.
The Sweet Anticipation of a New Baby
Regardless of whether a woman is expecting her first or her fourth baby, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land seeks to make each pregnancy and childbirth an extraordinary experience. As recipient of the 2013 Maternity Care Excellence Award™ from Healthgrades®, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land ranks among the top five percent of hospitals nationwide in maternity care.
Helpful educational programs include childbirth preparation, breastfeeding basics, newborn care, hospital tours and a sibling class. When it comes time to deliver, moms appreciate the private birthing suites that provide single-room maternity care.
“I liked being able to stay in the same suite for labor, delivery and our stay,” said Fort Bend resident Amy Raley. “I also liked how we could send our baby to the nursery if we needed to, and we did send him there for four or five hours the first night so I could get some sleep.”
The spacious and tastefully decorated rooms include hotel-like amenities: whirlpool tub, refrigerator, television, DVD player and a convertible guest bed. Complimentary music and massage therapies are also available. “My husband loved the bed for his overnight stay,” said Raley. “It was much bigger than the bed we had at the last hospital where we delivered.”
Dr. Kelli Burroughs with Amy and Landon Raley.
New moms, like Raley, also appreciate the knowledgeable nursing staff that is dedicated to meeting their every need. “The nurses were really great,” said Raley. “We could call them about anything at any time, and they were very helpful in answering questions.”
“Memorial Hermann Sugar Land has a very experienced staff,” said Chantal Nguyen-Tran, M.D., a Memorial Hermann-affiliated obstetrician/gynecologist. “The nurses are very specialized to meet each patient’s needs, while the hospital excels in maintaining safety and quality in all aspects of patient care.”
That focus on quality attracted obstetrician/gynecologist Jeffery Gubbels, M.D., to Memorial Hermann Sugar Land when he was practicing with South Texas Medical Clinics, which has since been acquired by the Memorial Hermann Medical Group. “The availability of high quality anesthesia and an onsite NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) nursery to care for premature babies and newborns with special health needs are key reasons to work with Memorial Hermann Sugar Land,” said Dr. Gubbels who has offices in Rosenberg, Wharton and Sugar Land. “Their commitment to quality and safety is the compelling reason that doctors choose to deliver there.”
Specialized Care for High-Risk Pregnancies
Even before she delivered, Raley learned she had elevated protein levels in her urine. Her physician, Kelli Burroughs, M.D., whom Raley raves about with accolades like “amazing, very positive, a good listener and very open,” referred her to the hospital’s High-Risk Pregnancy Clinic. Open Monday through Friday, the clinic is a collaboration between Memorial Hermann Sugar Land and UTHealth Medical School.
“When a patient has elevated protein levels, we always suspect pre-eclampsia, which can increase the blood pressure and affect kidney function,” said Dr. Burroughs, a Memorial Hermann-affiliated obstetrician/gynecologist. “In very rare cases, this can be a risk factor for still birth, so that’s one of the reasons I wanted to bring in the High-Risk Pregnancy Clinic to monitor Amy and her baby.”
The High-Risk Pregnancy Clinic provides specialized testing and consultation for complicated and high-risk pregnancies. Affiliated physicians, with board certification in both obstetrics/gynecology and maternal-fetal medicine, serve in a consultancy role as women continue to see their obstetricians.
Alfredo Gei, M.D., is one of those physicians. Every day is unique as he and his colleagues care for women with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma and anemia.
Other conditions commonly referred to the clinic are women carrying multiples, those who will be 35 or older at the time of delivery or have a history of cancer or multiple miscarriages, and those with decreased fetal growth. Increasingly, the clinic is seeing women who have undergone bariatric surgery since that reduces stomach capacity and can result in vitamin deficiencies.
“We collaborate with local physicians to treat their patients,” said Dr. Gei. “The maternal-fetal medicine physicians provide the doctors with phone consultations, and we see their patients in our clinic. If a patient is admitted to the hospital, and they want us to see her right away, we will.”
In Raley’s case, her elevated protein levels proved to be benign, and she delivered a healthy baby at 38 weeks.
Dr. Nina Dereska with the da Vinci Si Surgical System.
Delivering More Than Babies: Mammograms for Preventative Care
Of course, giving birth is just one stage of a woman’s life. By age 40, women should undergo a baseline mammogram. Memorial Hermann Sugar Land offers the latest technology, breast tomosynthesis, to empower women to be proactive in monitoring their breast health.
Tomosynthesis is a cutting-edge, digital technology that creates a highly focused 3-D picture of the breast, detecting smaller tumors at the earliest stages of breast cancer. Dedicated breast radiologists, like Rui Song, M.D., who work with this advanced technology say it significantly reduces patient callbacks needed to conduct more tests when suspicious areas are detected with 2-D mammography.
Digital tomosynthesis uses X-rays to make a three-second, arc-shaped sweep of the breast, creating multiple images from different angles. This eliminates problems found in traditional 2-D mammograms where overlapping breast tissue can hide potential tumors.
“Tomosynthesis is more specific and more sensitive in detecting cancer so we can see smaller cancers earlier,” said Song, a Memorial Hermann-affiliated breast radiologist. “Satisfaction with mammograms, from patients and referring physicians, has soared.”
Staying Healthy Through Mid-Life and Beyond
As women age, they can experience urine leakage. The two most common conditions that cause this are urinary stress incontinence and overactive bladder.
Stress incontinence occurs when coughing, laughing, sneezing or during other activities that put pressure on the bladder and urethra. Other contributing factors include vaginal childbirths, obesity and straining associated with constipation. “These stresses weaken the pelvic floor muscles and the ligaments that support the urethra,” said Nina Dereska, M.D., a Memorial Hermann-affiliated urogynecologist.
Medication to treat stress incontinence is generally ineffective, but inserting a plastic pessary into the vagina can obstruct leakage. “The gold standard and most effective treatment for stress incontinence is the bladder sling,” said Dereska. “This is where we support the urethra with a safe, FDA-approved mesh material to recreate the ligaments and hold up the urethra.”
With overactive bladder, there is an urge to urinate because of bladder twitches or contractions. Treatment can be as simple as modifying fluid intake or strengthening the pelvic floor muscles through physical therapy. Several once-daily medications have proven effective in three out of four women. Other treatments include nerve stimulation therapies like Urgent®PC and InterStim®, as well as Botox injected into the bladder.
Committed to an Exceptional Patient Experience
From motherhood through menopause and beyond, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land is committed to delivering to women an exceptional patient experience. By combining quality, patient-centered care with advanced technologies, they serve as a trusted partner to help women live healthy, productive lives. Visit memorialhermann.org to learn more.
Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Ranks Among Top in the Nation
At Memorial Hermann Sugar Land, quality and patient safety are core values that drive the staff to provide the best possible outcomes for patients. This relentless commitment has resulted in the hospital earning these accolades:
• 2013 Maternity Care Excellence Award™ awarded by Healthgrades®, ranking it among the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide
• 2011 and 2012 Top Performers on Key Quality Measures™ as measured by The Joint Commission, ranking it in the top 18 percent in the nation
• Pathway to Excellence® designation by American Nurses Credentialing Center
• 100 Top Hospitals® 2012 awarded by Truven Health Analytics (formerly Thomson Reuters)
• Five-Star Award from Texas Department of State Health Services for exemplary work in caring for newborns and their families
Additionally, the Memorial Hermann Health System serves as a national leader in quality care. Some recent recognitions include:
• 2012 Eisenberg Patient Safety Award by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and The Joint Commission
• 2013 Top 5 Large Health Systems in the nation according to the 15 Top Health Systems study by Truven Health