In response to a need expressed by staff physicians and their female patients, St. Anthony’s Medical Center recently opened a new Medical/Surgical Unit for women only.

The new unit consists of 14 newly renovated rooms on the eighth floor of the medical center in the 8A corridor, the area formerly occupied by Oncology, which was moved to the 8B corridor. All rooms in both areas are private.

“The female-only unit is a new innovation that our gynecologists and obstetricians and their patients have been requesting,” Tina Stehr, manager of both the Wo-men’s Medical Surgical and the Oncology units, stated in a news release. “The physicians feel it offers more privacy and individualized attention for their patients, who are going through an emotional time.”

In the past, some OB/GYNs have been sending their patients to rooms in the Post Partum area rather than a general surgical floor, Stehr said. They wanted their patients to receive care from staff members specializing in women’s health issues.

Last October patients in Oncology were moved from 8A to 8B, where office space had been converted to private patient rooms.

The rooms in 8A were painted, the floors were stripped and refinished and two-bed rooms were remodeled as private rooms.

While the main focus of the new Women’s Medical/Surgical unit is gynecology patients, there will be other female patients there as well, Stehr noted.