NICU Construction

Memo

To: Community Members

From: Kim Deynaka, Manager, NICU & Neonatal Operations; Debbie Raniero, Director, Family Birth Center

RE: Start of construction for St. Joseph Medical Center Level III NICU

As the manager of the St. Joseph Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the director of the St. Joseph Family Birth Center, we are excited to announce an expansion of services for our neonatal operations.

Last March, the Department of Health (DOH) approved St. Joseph's request to elevate the level of care for our Family Birth Centers and Special Care Nursery from a Level II to a Level III NICU. The DOH also approved the addition of five bassinets to the existing unit (for a total of 23).

We are now ready to build the space for this expansion. Construction on the expanded NICU begins January 14 and will be finished in May. The new addition of the NICU will be located on the 12th Floor at St. Joseph, adjacent to the existing 8-bed intermediate care nursery (ICN) Level II unit. During construction, we will continue to care for newborns needing special attention in our Level II unit.

The expansion project, along with our recent partnership with Seattle Children’s Hospital Neonatalists, will further position St. Joseph as a regional, comprehensive, full-service birth center that offers a complete continuum of care for premature infants, newborns and their families.

As always, thank you for your patience during the construction period. Please be assured that patient safety—especially families who expect to deliver babies during the construction period at St. Joseph— and the expert, compassionate care that Franciscan offers to mothers, babies and families in the Family Birth Center, Special Care Nursery and NICU will not be compromised. We will do all we can to minimize any inconvenience and to get the NICU up and running as quickly as we can.

Thank you for your support and interest in this exciting new program at St. Joseph.