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Community Medical Center opens doors to expecting mothers ahead of relocation

unit available during open house
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MISSOULA — Community Medical Center welcomed expecting mothers for a special open house tour of their labor and delivery facilities, preparing for a significant transition as hundreds of patients relocate from Providence St. Patrick's Family Maternity Center.

The three-hour event gave soon-to-be mothers the opportunity to familiarize themselves with CMC's facilities ahead of the Oct. 10 transition.

Between 400 and 450 patients will now deliver their babies at Community Medical Center following Providence St. Patrick's Family Maternity Center's announced closure.

"We very quickly started making plans and trying to figure out what equipment will we need? What additional staff members would we need to be able to take that incoming volume?" Hollie Nagel said.

Nagel serves as Community Medical Center's chief nursing officer.

The open house provided expecting mothers a chance to tour the labor and delivery unit, antepartum unit, and NICU before giving birth at the facility.

Community Medical Center delivery unit
Community Medical Center delivery unit

"These new moms that might be not expecting to deliver here originally, but now things have changed, and we want them to have the opportunity to come in to see where they'll be delivering, meet some of our staff members, and understand the resources that we have to offer them," Nagel said.

Labor and delivery nurse Rita Stevenson expressed enthusiasm about meeting the incoming patients.

"You get to kind of walk in, bond with your patient, really get to know them and kind of walk them through the labor process as it progresses," Stevenson said.

CMC expects several doctors and nurse practitioners to relocate to their facility to serve patients.

"We're excited to have the staff that have joined us from Saint Pat's and then these families as you know we get to be a part of their story, so that's really exciting," Nagel said.