Contact: Sara Quale
sara.quale@bannerhealth.com
(970) 820-4031
GREELEY, Colo. (March 28, 2018) – North Colorado Medical Center is enhancing its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to better serve families with premature infants in Northern Colorado.
The change from a Level 2 to a Level 3 nursery, will bring a higher level of care and officially begin April 2, 2018. New equipment added as part of the enhancements include incubators, ventilators, infant warmers, bilirubin (bili) lights, bili blankets, breast pumps and high-flow oxygen setups along with additional respiratory and neonatal supplies. Funding was provided by Banner Health and the NCMC Foundation as part of Banner’s larger strategy to provide quality care and serve the community’s growing needs.
The Level 2 special care nursery provided respiratory support for newborns for only a short period of time, typically a day or two at most, for babies who were born at 32 weeks gestation or later. If a baby was born earlier than 32 weeks and required respiratory support for a longer period, they were transferred to Denver to a facility that could provide Level 3 NICU care. NCMC noted a need for this added service over the past several years based on the number of mothers who were transferred out prior to the birth of a premature infant and the number of infants born in the area who required that higher level of care.
With more than 1,600 babies born at NCMC in 2017, the hospital continues to see a growth in healthy babies as well as premature and sick babies. As a Level 3 NICU, NCMC will offer comprehensive care for babies born at 28 weeks gestation or greater. Level II nurseries care for babies born at 32 weeks gestation or greater.
“Becoming a Level 3 NICU will allow us the opportunity to provide a higher level of clinical care and help patients be their healthiest closer to home,” said Tammy Piccone, director Women and Infant Services and Pediatrics at NCMC. “A lot of work, care coordination and additional training has gone into the expansion of services in the NCMC NICU and we are excited to offer this extension of care to families in need.”
NCMC has added 24/7 neonatology coverage and services. Neonatologists specialize in the care of premature and ill newborns. The clinical team in the NICU have received additional training and education and new equipment and supplies.
The NCMC Level 3 NICU also meets the standards for nursery levels of care per the Guidelines for Perinatal Care written by the American Academy of Pediatrics and The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists.
About North Colorado Medical Center
North Colorado Medical Center is a fully accredited, private, nonprofit facility licensed in Greeley, Colorado, operated by Banner Health, a nonprofit healthcare system with 28 hospitals in six states. It serves as a regional medical center offering a comprehensive scope of community-based and specialty healthcare services for an area including southern Wyoming, western Nebraska, western Kansas and northeastern Colorado. It offers Emergency care, cancer care, heart care, orthopedics, inpatient and outpatient surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics, rehabilitation, intensive care, lab and medical imaging, medical air transport and the Western States Burn Center. NCMC is recognized by Healthgrades as one of “America’s 50 Best Hospitals, 2015, 2016”. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com/NCMC.