Edward Hospital first in region with private NICU rooms

Edward Hospital is opening 22 private Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) rooms to care for premature newborns.  The rooms provide parents with space, comfort and privacy for treatment and consultation with doctors and nurses.  Edward is the first hospital in the western suburbs with private NICU rooms. 

Edward’s Level III NICU, meaning it can treat the sickest and most fragile newborns, is the largest in DuPage County and treats 400 babies a year.

The new private rooms, on the 2^nd floor of Edward Hospital, are 200 square feet each and have the latest in high-tech equipment for close monitoring of newborns by nurses and doctors.  Edward’s NICU was previously comprised of three separate nursery settings in which multiple newborns were cared for in each room.

“The private NICU rooms are important because they give us the ability to customize each baby's environment to best support their level of care,” says Bob Covert, MD, Medical Director, Edward NICU and neonatologist, DuPage Neonatology Associates.  “We’re able to regulate light and sound levels to support the baby's needs and maximize development and healing.”

There are two sets of rooms that connect so sick twins or multiples can be treated together and parents can be near all of the babies.  There is also one larger room to accommodate triplets.

Each room features a computer and Internet access, light/temperature controls, two oversized chairs for parents (one which can be used as a bed), a refrigerator for breast milk, closets and natural light.

In addition, the NICU floor features a large family waiting room (which was not available before), a parent/physician conference room, a nourishment room with two large freezers for breast milk and two expanded nurses stations.  Edward’s NICU has 63 nurses and 12 support staff members.

NICU families also have access to the Ronald McDonald Family Room, the first of its kind in Illinois, a place for parents to rest and regroup when they’re at Edward with their sick children.  The Family Room has a living room, relaxation areas, kitchen, two computer stations with Internet access, two sleeping rooms, showers and a playroom for patients and siblings.

Edward’s NICU doctors and nurses have cared for:

--The first set of quintuplets born in DuPage County, the Hortons in 2004.  The four surviving newborns, Caitlynn, Coira, Lachlan and Porter, gained national attention following their birth by mother Taunacy and news that father Josh was severely wounded while serving with the Marines in Iraq.

--Five sets of quadruplets, including the first set of quadruplets born in DuPage County, the Crommets in 2001 (Josie, Allison, Maggie and Sophia).

--Thirty-seven sets of triplets and 428 sets of twins (2002 through November 30, 2012).

--Zoe Koz, born in 2004 as one of the world’s smallest babies at 305 grams (10.8 ounces).  Zoe was the ninth smallest baby in the world to survive, the third smallest in the U.S. and the smallest in DuPage County.

--Michael Gillespie, born 10 weeks premature in 2008 with a giant omphalocele, which means most of his internal organs were outside of his body.  Michael was on life support for months, had several major surgeries and spent the first 299 days of his life in Edward’s NICU.

--Bella Craig, born in 2008 with a giant omphalocele.  Following her birth, antibiotic cream was applied to transform the omphalocele’s membrane into a protective shell.  Bella left the NICU and returned a few months later for a procedure that successfully covered and closed the omphalocele.

The opening of the 22 private NICU rooms completes the renovation and construction of Edward’s new NICU, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), pediatric special procedure rooms and Ronald McDonald Family Room.  The projects were funded, in part, by the Edward Foundation’s KidsCare Campaign.  For more information, visit www.edward.org/foundation or call (630) 527-3954.