St. Joseph’s Health purchases new equipment as it offers new pre-natal services

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — St. Joseph’s Health says it has purchased two new fetal non-stress test monitors using a $17,600 grant from the Flora Bernice Smith Foundation of Syracuse.

The monitors are helping physicians detect, “as early as possible,” any potential complications that an unborn baby might be facing, St. Joseph’s Health said in a news release.

Extra monitoring is “required” during high-risk pregnancies, the organization noted. The monitors are an example of what St. Joseph’s Health says are its “big investments to protect and improve” the health of mothers and babies.

In addition to the monitors, the hospital is also now home to a maternal-fetal medicine program that physicians from Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester are staffing.

“We are very excited to join the outstanding group of women’s health-care providers at St. Joseph’s Health Hospital,” Dr. Neil Seligman, assistant professor in the division of maternal-fetal medicine at Strong Memorial Hospital, said in the release. “After many successful years serving the community at our location in Associate’s for Women’s Medicine (AWM), we have moved to St. Joseph’s to expand maternal-fetal medicine services to patients in Onondaga and the surrounding counties.”

The maternal-fetal medicine specialists were seeing patients twice per month at the AWM office on James Street in Syracuse. Now, they are seeing patients weekly at St. Joseph’s Health Hospital for ultrasounds and consultations. The physicians are also co-managing high-risk patients with their primary prenatal-care provider.

“The increasing number of pregnant women with chronic medical conditions is a challenge for many women’s health-care providers and often requires transfer to a maternal-fetal medicine specialist,” said Seligman. “Fetal complications like birth defects or poor growth, for example, can also be a barrier to continuing to provide prenatal care. Our goal is to facilitate safe prenatal care by the patient’s own obstetrician, midwife or family practice.”

With the newly purchased monitors, a fetal non-tress test allows physicians to monitor fetal heart rate and the baby’s movement without putting the baby in distress. This test is usually used when the mother presents a high-risk condition such as hypertension, diabetes, thyroid conditions, bariatric patients, and twins. The test allows St. Joseph’s Health to “preemptively” identify potential issues before they arise.

“This test can also be used diagnostically if the mother notes a change in fetal movement or if the patient is beyond her due date,” Denise Dann, director of primary-care administration at St. Joseph’s Health, said in the news release. “If the monitoring is noted as non-reactive, the patient can be sent to labor and delivery for continued monitoring in a hospital setting.”

St. Joseph’s Health is using the fetal non-stress test monitors at its main family-medicine location at the hospital and at Primary Care Center-West at 321 Gifford St. in Syracuse.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com