Guam Memorial Hospital finally sets the wheels in motion for maternity ward project after 10 years of planning

By Pacific Island Times News Staff

After more than a decade of planning, Guam Memorial Hospital will finally push ahead with the renovation of its maternity ward, the hospital administrator announced Friday.

“This is a historic milestone for GMH and for every family that depends on our hospital,” Dr. Joleen M. Aguon said after obtaining the final procurement approval for Phase I of the $17.8 million project.

“For years, our nurses, physicians and staff have provided extraordinary care in spaces that have not kept pace with the needs of our patients," she added.

Initial work is expected to begin within 30 days of the formal notice to proceed.

GMH said the long-stalled project will be funded through a $15 million 

appropriation under Public Law 36-107 and $2.8 million under Public Law 38-80.

"The combined funding gives GMH the resources necessary to begin transforming the hospital’s maternal and newborn care environment after years of planning and preparation," the hospital administration said, touting the project as "one of the most significant capital investments in the hospital’s

history and a major step forward for maternal and newborn care on Guam."

Officials said the project will be implemented in four phases to allow uninterrupted maternal and newborn services throughout the renovation.

Construction will begin with labor and delivery, followed by postpartum areas, the expanded NICU and the remaining maternity spaces.

Phase I will renovate about 17,230 square feet of existing hospital space and add approximately 4,160 square feet through a second-floor expansion into the

existing courtyard.

In total, more than 21,000 square feet will be rebuilt or added to transform

GMH’s labor and delivery, Maternity, Postpartum, Nursery and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit services.

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Aguon said the project's approval was the culmination of more than 10 years of planning, funding, redesign and persistence.

We are not waiting for a future hospital to improve care. We are building better care at GMH now," she said.

Officials said the project will create a modern GMH Family Birth Center designed around the needs of mothers, babies, families and healthcare professionals. The new environment will reduce unnecessary movement for mothers during labor, delivery and recovery  and help keep mothers

and newborns together whenever medically appropriate.

Plans include:

●      Eight labor and delivery rooms

●      Three combined labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms

●      Fifteen postpartum rooms

●      A dedicated Cesarean section room and recovery area

●      Expanded family waiting and lactation spaces

●      Modernized nurses’ stations, medication rooms and clinical support areas

●      A new elevator, stairway and improved lobby access

●      Upgraded medical gas, HVAC, electrical, fire-protection, nurse-call and life-safety systems

 The project will also double the size of GMH’s NICU from approximately 1,800 to 3,600 square feet and increase operational NICU capacity from four beds

 to nine. This expansion will give GMH more space and greater capacity to care for Guam’s smallest and most vulnerable patients.

 “This historic project will create safer, more modern spaces that keep families

 together and give our healthcare professionals the environment they need

 to provide their best care," Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said.

“Modernization is not simply a plan on paper. It is safer rooms, stronger systems and better care that our people can see and experience. While Guam continues planning for a future medical campus, we are delivering critical improvements at GMH today," Lt. Gov. Joshua Tenorio said.

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