Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
If issues emerge during pregnancy or delivery, Providence Holy Cross provides 24-hour care for the special needs of your baby. Our 18-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is specially designed to care for premature and high-risk babies and offers family-centered care and comfort for babies and their parents.
All parents look forward to healthy pregnancies and routine deliveries, but if something unexpected should happen, our new, state-of-the-art Level III Neonatal ICU is equipped to care for the unique needs of your baby. The NICU has equipment designed for infants and a hospital staff who have special training in newborn care.
In an effort to provide top quality care, our NICU features:
- 18 innovative and high-tech bassinets called “Giraffes” which minimize stress and promote growth.
- Therapeutic Hypothermia, a new body-cooling system that lowers the temperature of a baby who’s experienced a stressful labor.
- Secure cameras that allow parents to watch over their babies remotely.
- Family Centered NICU with private rooms for infants and their families.
- Fully equipped Giraffe isolettes which allows the infant to stay in the same incubator until they are stable to move to an open crib.
- Lactation consultants are available to answer questions and give you hands on assistance as needed with pumping and feeding your baby at the breast as well as ongoing support once you and your baby go home.
- Clinical social workers are assigned to every infant admitted to the NICU and will meet with all parents to help you cope with the stress of having a baby who is hospitalized. They will assess your family’s needs, provide counseling and support, and help to connect you to supportive resources.
- Case managers will assist in arranging specialty items needed to care for your infant upon discharge, and will monitor your case daily.
At the NICU, we understand that each infant has individual needs that require specific treatment plans. This is why each of our newborn patients is assigned a personal NICU team. These teams consist of:
- Neonatologists and neonatal nurses
- Pediatric neurologist
- Respiratory therapists
- Lactation consultants
- Laboratory technologists
- Pharmacists
- Therapists
- Social workers
- Case managers
- Counselors
Visiting is open to parents and family 24 hours a day. A parent or banded partner must be present at the bedside for any other visitors to be allowed. A total of 3 people per family may be at the bedside at one time, including the parent(s). Parents must declare that their visitors are up to date on immunizations, have not had recent exposure to communicable disease and are not currently experiencing fever or symptoms of cold or flu.
- We encourage parents to visit as much as they would like. However, please keep in mind that the NICU closes to all visitors for a change of shift from 6:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
- The best time to visit is 30 minutes before your baby is going to eat. You can take part in care activities and spend time with your baby when he/she is the most awake and interactive. Call daily to find out your baby’s feeding schedule as it can change.
- Special visitation rules are put in place during the flu season and during times of high community health risk to protect your baby. You will be notified of any special visitation rules.
- Please check-in with your baby’s nurse if you have any questions on visitation.
For your infant’s protection, we are a locked unit. Enter through the main lobby and check in at the main Information desk during hospital visiting hours (8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.).
After 8:00 p.m., you may enter through the Emergency Department.