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First baby enters expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at The Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart

March 11, 2015
/ Staff Reports
/ education

At just over one month old, Nathaniel Bowersox celebrated a major milestone with The Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart. Nathaniel became the first baby to move into the expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at The Children’s Hospital. Nathaniel was born on February 5 – about one month before his due date – in a delivery his mother Megan Bowersox, of Crestview, described as very smooth. But the next day, a blockage called meconium ileus caused Nathaniel’s small intestine to rupture, and he was transported for emergency surgery at The Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart in one of the hospital’s neonatal transport ambulances. Since then, Nathaniel has been in the NICU of The Children’s Hospital, while growing stronger in preparation for his second surgery. On the morning of Wednesday, March 11, he became the first baby to move into the hospital’s new unit, which is a $1 million expansion of 12 Level III beds – the highest level of neonatal care available – constructed on the third floor of the main hospital. This expansion brings the total number of NICU beds at The Children’s Hospital to 67. All of the new NICU rooms are private, with one family per room. “Being in the NICU, it has been such a comforting experience – and at times a nice distraction – to develop relationships with the other parents. We grow to care about each other, and we are all concerned for each other’s babies,” said Megan. “But being up here in the new private rooms where it’s so quiet, I’ve been able to enjoy these private moments with my son. We have more space than I know what to do with, and I’m so excited to share this window view with him.” Each year, more than 800 babies are admitted to the NICU of The Children’s Hospital. The Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart offers the area’s only Level III NICU, and the high capacity of the hospital’s NICU prompted this need for expansion. The Children’s Hospital also maintains two specially equipped mobile neonatal critical care transport ambulances for the transfer of premature and critically ill newborns from other hospitals across Northwest Florida to The Children’s Hospital.

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First baby enters expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at The Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart

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