The first and only hospital in Stafford turns 10 years old

STAFFORD — On Feb. 27, 2009, the doors of Stafford Hospital opened to the public. Before its opening, the only nearby hospitals that Stafford residents could go to for medical care was Mary Washington in Fredericksburg and Potomac Hospital in Woodbridge.

Each opened in 1900 and 1973, respectively. By 2009, the population in Stafford County had increased to 128,000 people, and the county needed a hospital it could call its own.

“Our community was growing and it was growing at a rapid pace and continued to. Needing another hospital was essential for the growth and care of our community,” said Stafford Hospital Vice President and Hospital Administrator Cathy Yablonski.

And the hospital staff has been busy. For example, as of 2018, the hospital had delivered 7,859 babies. In 2011, the hospital also opened a Level 2 Intermediate Nursery. This allowed the hospital to treat babies at 34 weeks and later who needed to gain a healthy weight and grow strong.

The babies are cared for by pediatric hospitalists through the hospital’s partnership with Children’s National Medical Center, a children’s hospital based in Washington D.C. and is ranked number 1 in neonatology. In August 2018, the hospital’s Family Birth Place delivered a record 136 babies in one month, their previous record was 120 babies.

“The greatest success has been the caregivers we have in our facility, we were able to get people who want to care for Stafford. Having that commitment from the people here for the people in our community has made a big difference,” said Yablonski.

In addition to their neonatal care, the hospital opened with a surgical center. Since its opening, the hospital has performed 20,961 surgical cases. These surgical services include cosmetic, thoracic a surgical focus on chest organs), and minimally invasive surgery.

In 2014, Stafford Hospital became one of five hospitals designated a Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology (COEMIG) by the Surgical Review Corporation. The COEMIG program ensures minimally invasive gynecology patients receive the safest and highest quality of care.

OBGYNs have also called Stafford Hospital home.

“We were the first and only private OBGYN practice to be affiliated with Stafford Hosptial, in fact, we grew alongside the hospital in their growth and ours,” commented Dr. Kurian Thott, of the Women’s Health and Surgical Center.

Stafford Hospital’s attention to care for the community was recognized a year earlier in 2013 when they became the only hospital in Virginia to win the 2013 Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence from VHA (now known as Vizient) for achieving national performance standards for clinical quality, safety, and patient experience.

When asked what she sees in the future for Stafford Hospital, Ms. Yablonski commented, “As Stafford County continues to grow, we hope to continue to grow as well. To provide more services, continue to have up to date equipment, and continue to be there for the community.”

And the hospital has grown, in 2014 the hospital began a partnership with Kaiser Permanente, an integrated managed care consortium based in Oakland, California. Kaiser’s staff is dedicated to the same level of patient care and treatment as the hospital, Kaiser also has offices off of Cowan Boulevard near Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg.

“Kaiser’s presence on the hospital campus gives the hospital more creedence and will allow the hospital to expand their health care services to the public and expand affiliated medical technologies,” commented Stafford County Economic Development Director John Holden.

Those technologies are quickly coming, the hospital received new CT (CAT Scan) machines in 2018. These machines have the latest in imaging that can be used in the assistance of analysis and biopsies that would improve services like OBGYN.

“We hope to continue our growth in both OB and Gynecology services. We have been cutting edge and what we offer our patients and Stafford Hospital has been a great partner to us in that,” commented Dr. Thott.

The future of Stafford Hospital is intertwined with the growth of Stafford itself. The hospital is located near the new interchange of I-95, which is bound to bring new people and potential growth to the county.