Monday, June 27, 2016
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, also known as the NICU, is where Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn’s most fragile babies spend their first days, and sometimes months, of life. Babies cared for in the NICU are often premature, with undeveloped organs, facing medical conditions ranging from sepsis to seizures to heart defects.
Now, a $2 million grant from The Carls Foundation, matched by an additional $2 million gift from the Oakwood Foundation, will allow the hospital to improve the NICU and care for patients. Renovations will allow staff to better serve babies and their families by transforming the atmosphere and installing state-of-the-art, life-saving technology.
“Infants and their families in our new NICU will have an environment more conducive to encourage bonding which will support their development, and get them home sooner,” Derek Bair, M.D., director of Neonatology at Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn said. “We have always had a caring, compassionate team. These upgrades will allow us to serve our patients and families even better.”
In Dearborn, doctors are treating ten times as many babies with drug withdrawal as they did just four years ago. Making these improvements and renovations will help staff care for the rising number of babies, like those going through withdrawal, who need extra attention.
We have always had a caring, compassionate team. These upgrades will allow us to serve our patients and families even better.
Dr. Bair
“The Carls Foundation has been an extraordinary partner in supporting our youngest and often most fragile patients,” said Margaret Cooney Casey, senior vice president and chief development officer, Beaumont Health.
The Carls Foundation has shown their loyal support to Beaumont time and again.
Renovations on The Carls Foundation Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will begin later this year and include upgraded equipment, new finishes, lighting, walls, flooring, ceilings and furniture for clinical and family areas.
In addition, a new “going-home” room will help families transition out of the hospital. A lactation room will also promote parent-infant feeding and bonding.
“We are so grateful to The Carls Foundation for supporting this project,” said Kelly Smith, president, Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn. “Our NICU has provided critical care to newborns for almost three decades and these renovations will allow that tradition of excellence to continue.”
Nearly 500 premature infants spend time in the Dearborn NICU each year. It’s one of the busiest NICUs in the state. A board-certified neonatologist is always on site.
More than 17,000 babies are born at Beaumont Hospitals each year. About 1,850 require specialized care at NICUs located at Beaumont hospitals in Dearborn, Royal Oak and Troy. Together, all three Beaumont Children’s NICUs can accommodate 102 babies each day.