Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Premature and critically ill newborns receive intensive medical care at the our Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), one of only three such units in the state. Babies as small as 455 grams, which is slightly more than one pound, have been successfully treated in our NICU, which provides emergency, critical, diagnostic and therapeutic intensive care, as well as consultative support services for critically ill infants from West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.
The NICU at Hoops Family Children's Hospital is the only facility in the region to offer state-of-the-art, single-patient rooms. Private rooms encourage and support communication, bonding and family-centered care. Mothers have privacy to breastfeed or pump at their baby’s bedside, which often results in greater success. Each room is equipped for parents to sleep near their baby, and a shared family room called Zaine’s Room provides an area for parents to eat, shower, use the internet or just relax.
The NICU team is led by board-certified neonatologists, and it includes experts from pediatric specialties related to critically ill newborns, including surgery, ophthalmology, cardiology and gastroenterology, along with pediatric residents, neonatal nurse practitioners, neonatal nurses, respiratory therapists, social workers, lactation consultants and developmental specialists.
The NICU Developmental Follow-up Clinic
Babies born prematurely or with unexpected medical complications are often at risk for delays in development and learning. If these problems are discovered and treated early, they may have less impact on the child's overall development. The purpose of the NICU Follow-up Clinic is to identify potential problems and help parents find resources for early intervention to reduce long-term developmental issues. The clinic staff performs an in-depth developmental assessment and makes follow-up recommendations based on your baby's medical conditions and the severity of his or her illness or prematurity. A written report will be provided to you and your child's pediatrician, and referrals to early intervention programs are made if there are concerns about development. Infants are typically evaluated at intervals that continue for one to three years.
The Vermont-Oxford Network
The NICU is proud to be a part of the Vermont-Oxford Network, a collaborative of healthcare providers from about 900 hospitals worldwide that is dedicated to improving the quality and safety of medical care for infants and their families. The Network maintains a database of information about the care and outcomes of high-risk newborn infants that provides unique, reliable and confidential for participating NICUs to use in quality management, process improvement, internal audit and peer review. Over the last few years, our NICU has become a leader in respiratory management of very low birth weight infants and has one of the lowest incidences of chronic lung disease in premature infants in the nation.
Substance Misuse
The Hoops Family Children's Hospital is committed to responding to the evolving healthcare needs of babies and children in our community. As the staff recognized the potential growth and impact of caring for babies born with substance reliance, resources were dedicated to creating our Neonatal Therapeutic Unit (NTU), which we believe offers the best approach for care.