Press Release - Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Alegent Health...

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Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Alegent Health Lakeside Hospital Offers Additional Support Premature Newborns

Release Date: 01/22/2007

West Omaha's First & Only Level II NICU to Offer Round-the-Clock Care for Pre-Term Infants Older Than 34-Weeks

OMAHA, Neb.- Parents of pre-term infants can now receive excellent neonatal care in West Omaha with the opening of the Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Alegent Health Lakeside Hospital. The new NICU allows the hospital to offer round-the-clock care to premature babies who are older than 34-weeks and with few complicated conditions that are expected to be resolved quickly.

The six-bed level II NICU is located inside the hospital's maternity center and features state-of-the-art technology along with neonatal nurse practitioners who provide staffing for the unit 24 hours a day and coverage by board-certified neonatalogists. Prior to the opening, the hospital maintained a normal newborn nursery, which provides care for full-term, healthy babies. This meant that pre-mature babies were transferred to Bergan Mercy Medical Center for care, where a Level III NICU is located. Now with the Level II status, Lakeside staff will be able to offer the required treatment needed for special-care babies without having to separate the child from its mother. Extremely pre-mature infants, those born at less than 34 weeks gestation, however, will still need to be transferred to a hospital with a Level III NICU.

'This extra level of care allows new moms to stay directly connected to their newborns who might require a little extra attention and support in their first days of life,' says Cindy Selig, operations director of the Maternal Child Services at Alegent Health Lakeside Hospital. 'Mothers can feel confident delivering their babies at Alegent Health Lakeside Hospital, knowing we have all they need to care for their babies, even those born a few weeks early.'

Since the hospital first opened its doors in 2004, the Lakeside Maternity Center has delivered around 3,600 newborn babies.