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Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital Offers Advanced Medical Services for Area's Sickest Babies.

As Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital opens a new neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), Director Michelle Rhea (left) and Hospital CEO Chris Vasquez tour the 20,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility, which contains 40 beds and features high-frequency ventilation.

Houston, Texas, September 24, 2003 -- Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital has opened a Level II/III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) that incorporates the latest medical technology for treating the Houston area’s youngest intensive care patients. With 40 patient beds, the 20,000 square-foot NICU is equipped with high-frequency ventilation for infants who suffer from respiratory problems too severe to treat with conventional ventilation methods. The unit features digital X-ray technology, which generates an exceptionally detailed image that is critical in diagnosing the slightest change in an infant’s condition. The NICU also uses indirect light in all bed spaces to help the most premature babies develop visual acuity without the complications associated with ultraviolet light.

The Level II nursery is an intermediate intensive care unit, equipped to care for babies needing assistance to grow and feed or that have minor complications. The Level III nursery provides intensive care for critically ill babies in need of ventilation.

The $6.5 million NICU, staffed by an experienced team of neonatologists and neonatal nurse practitioners, offers private and semi-private rooms for Level III care. It houses two “parent inns,” designed to ease baby care for parents whose little ones will soon be going home, as well as a family resource center.

Many of the rooms are designed and painted to resemble cottages and birdhouses with sun, moon and cloud sculptures. “Because new parents face enormous challenges, we set out to develop a facility that provides seriously ill newborns with the highest level of medical care in a soothing, family-friendly environment,” said Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital CEO Chris Vasquez. “Parents and their babies deserve to be comfortable from the moment treatment begins until baby is ready to go home.”
More than 525 babies were treated at the Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital NICU in FY 2003. The new facility is designed to handle an estimated 20 percent increase in the neonatal patient population that’s expected in FY 2004.

Memorial Hermann, a not-for-profit health care system, provides quality, comprehensive programs and services for a person’s whole life. Through our 11 hospitals located in the Texas Medical Center and the greater Houston area, Memorial Hermann offers the convenience of health care in neighborhoods where people live and work as well as easy access to the resources and technology of a university-affiliated teaching hospital. Memorial Hermann takes a holistic approach to health care, offering programs and services that address the physical, social, psychological and spiritual aspects of wellbeing. Our employees, volunteers and medical staff partners take pride in delivering care with compassion and respect.

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