Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center is excited to announce construction is underway for our Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The construction, which is projected to be completed early August, will upgrade the hospital’s current Level II NICU to a Level III.
The new NICU will include 24-hour in house coverage from a board certified neonatologist. The upgraded technology also allows caregivers to provide even more enhanced and personalized care for each baby in the NICU.
“When looking at our new NICU you can tell how much thought and consideration was put into every aspect of the design,” said Kristin Boyle, Director of Women’s Services at Southern Hills Hospital. “We want not only our teeniest patients, but their parents, to feel comforted and supported their entire stay with us and this new NICU helps us do that.”
The new 15 bed state of the art facility, will handle critical care for premature newborns and critically ill infants of any gestational age and was specifically designed so that parents can stay with their babies in a comfortable environment with enhanced privacy.
For parents, the new NICU bays will include a full, pull out sleep bed so they can sleep at the bedside. For critically ill infants, the advanced beds will help mimic a mother’s womb and are designed to help reduce stress in their new environment. The upgrade will also feature a “rooming in room”, allowing parents to practice taking care of their little one with NICU staff before discharge.
“Bringing a new child into the world can be stressful enough without any complications,” said Alexis Mussi, Chief Executive Officer of Southern Hills Hospital. “When your child is in the NICU, we want to do everything we can to care for that baby as well as their parents. We believe this upgrade will help so many families and are thankful we can make this investment into our community.”
The new unit also includes isolation rooms, as well as large, private pumping rooms for moms to provide breast milk to their baby.