Disney Children's Hospital at Florida Hospital (see more articles like this)

WHAT: With the steady increase in the number of people moving to Central Florida and having children, the need for resources for premature babies and babies who are born with health problems continues to rise. In an effort to help accommodate the need for additional space and equipment, Florida Children’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is opening a 20-bed unit that includes private rooms, state-of-the-art equipment, a parent lounge and training areas to help prepare parents to take their little ones home.

This unit is the first of its kind in Central Florida and is unique because it offers parents private rooms to spend time with their babies in. The addition also includes two large private rooms for multiple birth babies. The enhanced services cater to families with a sibling lounge and a parent lounge that includes a TV and a computer with Internet access.

Last year alone, more than 800 newborns spent time in Florida Children’s Hospital NICU. The tiny babies are as small as one pound and could fit in the palm of your hand. They range from 23 to 42 weeks gestation and spend anywhere from a few days to several months in the NICU. While in the hospital, they receive everything ventilatory support to surgical procedures to feeding interventions. The 20-bed addition will bring the total number of NICU beds to 61.

WHEN: Florida Children’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will host an open house to show the community the new 20-bed unit Friday, September 24, 2004 at 10 a.m. If you wish to cover the event, please be in the lobby by 9:45 a.m.

VISUALS/I-VIEWS: 

• Be there as the 20 state-of-the-art NICU rooms are unveiled to the community
  
• Interview a family who will share first-hand knowledge of how valuable the NICU is
  
• Interview a medical expert about the new unit and what it means to patients and their families