Sonja Crum: Hi there. My name is Sonja Crum. I'm the Director of Women and Children's Services here at San Juan Regional Medical Center. I have spent almost all of my nursing career working on the Childbirth Unit. I'm passionate about what I do and the fantastic group of team members I get to do it with. I love all things women's health, children and babies.

Today, I'm excited to share some wonderful updates about the remodel of our Childbirth Center. I'm thrilled to announce that the Childbirth Center successfully relocated to Cardiology North on June 4th. Construction began with a soft start on June 10th and officially commenced on June 24th.

This 240-day project is expected to be completed in approximately nine months. There was such anticipation about this renovation project. We started planning back in 2019 for it and then was not able to move forward for various reasons related to the pandemic. To say we're excited to be able to kick this project off is an understatement.

This relocation was a significant undertaking and we're immensely grateful to everyone involved for their hard work and dedication to making this remodel a success. Special thanks to the Childbirth Team, Information Technology, Respiratory Therapy, Marketing, as well as Wes Warner for their integral roles in making this a success. The construction team has been fantastic to work with as well.

We're incredibly fortunate to have received government funding for this remodel, and we're excited to offer this newly remodeled space to our community as a community-owned, non-profit hospital. This project brings exciting improvements, including updated rooms with a modern look, a more welcoming entrance, and a more compliant-friendly nurses station. It also includes a birthing gym for moms who are low risk and want to stay active during labor. These enhancements will significantly improve the experience for moms, babies and their families.

Bringing life into this world is a beautiful experience. And with this remodel, we aim to enhance and personalize this experience even further. While many hospitals are struggling in closing their OB units, we are proud to be investing in and improving ours. This commitment to be better is something we can all take pride in.

In moments of quietness, take a moment to reflect on the sacredness of life. Each person's life is valuable, and when we keep this in mind, everything we do gains more purpose. By honoring life, especially our own, we can create a better environment for ourselves and those around us. This remodel is a testament to our dedication to honoring the lives of the families we serve.

 We are a Baby-Friendly Designated facility and have a phenomenal Lactation team that supports all of our moms however they choose to feed their babies. I feel like this is important to support moms and their decisions from start to finish. We also have our own patient educator that has built a robust list of classes for our community. The best part about this is they are totally free to those in our community. You can sign up online and have a variety of classes to choose from. We are a level 2 special care nursery, and we've partnered with Presbyterian, NICU, and Albuquerque to offer telehealth options to better support fragile infants that need a little help at birth. We also offer VBACs, which is a great thing for our community.

I'm proud of this unit and this team and the things we accomplished for our community. As we approach the opening of the newly remodeled childbirth floor, stay tuned for our ribbon-cutting ceremony and the tours we will offer so everyone can see the new space. It is an exciting time for us in our community. Thanks again to everyone that has helped and supported this project along the way.