Norwalk Hospital

Norwalk Hospital is a nonprofit, acute-care, community hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut. It is also a teaching hospital.

The hospital says it has the only publicly accessible Hyperbaric Medicine Center in the state. Other offerings include an Occupational Health Services division, a "lobby pharmacy" (SWC Pharmacy), a Sleep Disorders Center and the Whittingham Cancer Center.

"Norwalk’s Radiology Department is one of the few in the country with full digital imaging technology, and we recently replaced all beds with new state-of-the-art beds and transfer devices that both provide better care for our patients and ease of use for our employees," according to the hospital's Web site. .

A redesigned and renovated "Childbirth Center at Norwalk Hospital" held its grand opening in May 2006. The seven private birthing rooms have beds that convert to chairs for easier delivery, private baths and showers, recliners and rockers, flat-screen televisions, chair massages and a "private brunch for two with linens, china and champagne." In 2005, 28 twins were born at the hospital and one set of triplets. Brahms "Lullaby" plays over the public-address system each time a baby is born.

The hospital has a credit union (Norwalk Hospital Credit Union Inc.), and an Occupational Health Services division.

Norwalk Hospital is affiliated with the Advanced Center for Rehabilitation Medicine, Inc., Honey Hill Care Center.

The hospital has a fully accredited, three-year residency program in both internal medicine and diagnostic radiology, one-year physician assistant residency programs in surgery and "education opportunities" in anesthesiology.

The Department of Medicine sponsors subspecialty fellowship training programs in Gastroenterology, Nutrition, Pulmonary, Sleep and Critical Care Medicine. The Section of Pulmonary Medicine also sponsors a School of Respiratory Care in conjunction with the Norwalk Community College.

The hospital had 1,600 employees in 2005. The president is Geoffrey Cole.

The hospital is licensed for 338 beds, 10 more than it currently has.

On July 31, 2007, presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani visited the hospital to talk about his health-care policy proposals. He held a news conference in the hospital lobby and met with nine physicians and two administrators in a roundtable discussion.



Areas of Specialization
The hospital says it offers these specialized services:
 * Inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services
 * Inpatient and outpatient addiction rehabilitation
 * Newly completed outpatient Cancer Center
 * Emergency Department with Level 2 Trauma Accreditation
 * Hospital-based Emergency Medical Service, considered one of the best in the state
 * Inpatient and ambulatory surgery
 * Sleep Disorder Laboratory
 * Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit
 * Hyperbaric Medicine Center

Expansion plans
In April 2007 the hospital announced that its principal location on Maple Street would be renovated and four new medical facilities are to be created, three in Norwalk and one in the Georgetown, Connecticut community that covers parts of Redding, Ridgefield, Weston and Wilton, Connecticut. The Georgetown facility would have 30,000- to 50000 sqft of space.

In Norwalk, a 100000 sqft space on Route 7 near the Wilton border will house medical and wellness services and the offices of primary care physicians, obstetricians/gynecologists and other specialists, according to the hospital. The hospital administration also plans to have clinical support services and community programs at the site, including laboratories, radiology and physical therapy.

Also in Norwalk, at the corner of Maple Street and West Avenue, the hospital plans a 50000 sqft "Musculoskeletal Institute" to be opened in 2008. Cole, the hospital president, said the facility will provide "the most comprehensive range of musculoskeletal services in our region". The hospital also plans to open another 50000 sqft location for medical and office space on West Avenue by 2010.

Honey Hill Care Center
"Honey Hill is a 130-bed combination of extended nursing care facility and short-term rehabilitation program," according to the Norwalk Hospital Web site. The nursing home offers extended care, including to the elderly with dementia. The nursing home offers rehabilitation services, including physical, occupational, and speech therapy, stroke and neurological rehabilitation.

Individual patient-created Web pages
The hospital became the first in the state to offer "CarePages" -- Web pages that patients themselves create to communicate with friends and family while they are in the hospital. The service was announced by the hospital in April 2006, with a pilot program in the Childbirth Center for families with babies in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit. "Patients or family members can update the Web page without repeated phone calls to share their news," according to a hospital news release. "All registered guests are automatically e-mailed when an update is posted, allowing the patient or family member to spend less time on the phone." Laptops or other computers are available for patients to use, and photo galleries can also be created.

History
The hospital was founded in 1892 and opened in 1893.

From 1907 to 1974 the hospital ran a nursing education program that graduated a total of about 1,000 graduates (in 1937, for instance, there were four graduates). By the 1970s, university nursing programs had become so popular that the hospital decided it didn't want to compete with them and ended the school. In 2007 a 100th anniversary reunion was held at the hospital. About 350 alumni and guests attended the ceremonial installation of a plaque with the names of the graduates.

Nearby hospitals

 * List of hospitals in Connecticut
 * Stamford Hospital
 * St. Vincent's Medical Center
 * Bridgeport Hospital
 * Greenwich Hospital
 * Danbury Hospital