Parents in Brooklyn can breathe a sigh of relief now that the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Maimonides Hospital is expanding.
Alba Lopez Gutierrez and her two parents, Josselin Gutierrez and Francisco Lopez, are all too familiar with the hospital’s NICU. Josselin Gutierrez gave birth to Alba four months early, and Alba weighed less than one pound.
“When Alba was born I remember the doctors saying they don't even know if they'll have equipment that was small enough for her, because she was our smallest baby…13 ounces,” said Maimonides patient representative Tzivi Weinstock.
Fast-forward to today, and healthy 6-year-old Alba was there to inaugurate the brand-new wing of the NICU.
The expansion adds 17 new beds to the current unit, allowing the team to care for 48 babies at a time.
“We were always kind of above census, and we were not able to provide adequate spacing. This affords the right space for the right babies,” said Alok Bhutada, chief of newborn medicine at Maimonides.