Sacred Heart Hospital hopes a $1 million expansion of the neonatal intensive care unit at The Children's Hospital will mean more critically ill babies can get the care they need.

The new, 12-bed unit was built on the third floor of the main hospital, for a total of 67 NICU beds at the facility. The new unit was built in the area of the hospital that most recently housed adult progressive care. The Children’s Hospital offers the area’s only Level III NICU — the highest level of critical care.

The hospital also maintains two mobile neonatal critical care transport ambulances for the transfer of premature and critically ill newborns from other hospitals across Northwest Florida.

More than 800 babies are admitted to the NICU each year, with about 80 percent born prematurely. The average stay in the NICU is around 24 days.

Henry Stovall, president of Sacred Heart Hospital Pensacola, said the expansion is important to ensure the space, supplies and staff are available to care for babies who need the intensive attention. Stovall said the NICU has, in busy times, reached capacity.

“We are always able to accommodate babies born inside the hospital who need an extra level of care," he said in a news release. "But our doctors and staff are experts in their field, and The Children’s Hospital is a resource for hospitals throughout the region."

The expansion created jobs, including 16 nurses hired to work in the new unit, as well as additional respiratory staff and a nurse practitioner.