SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND)- State regulators have approved a plan to expand capacity and add family privacy at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at HSHS St. John’s Hospital.
The board approved the plans, officials say have been in the works for several years, at a meeting Tuesday.
“Over the last few years, we've had a significant increase in the number of babies we care for in the neonatal ICU, growing from about 500 babies a year six years ago to over 700 babies last year, said Beau Batton, Chief of Neonatology at SIU School of Medicine. “With that increase in number comes the need for more beds in our Neonatal ICU."
Planned renovations would increase the NICU capacity from 45 to 56 babies, Batton said. They would also provide babies and their families private rooms.
“It’s all about patient care, and it’s about taking care of the most vulnerable patients we have here at St. John’s, our premature and critically ill babies,” said Beverly Neisler, Chief Development Officer for the St. John’s Foundation. “We talk about the improvements because of the privacy and the opportunity for parents to be able to have a more quality bonding time with their babies. It reduces the risk of infection to have these private family rooms.”
Work on the project could begin this fall or winter and is expected to be complete by late 2021 or early 2022, Batton said.
