By GREGORY ZELLER //
Long Island’s most critically ill premature babies have a new state-of-the-art space to finish cooking.
Northwell Health has cut the ribbon on a next-generation neonatal intensive care unit inside Bay Shore’s South Shore University Hospital, a 6,300-square-foot space that adds to a $71 million SSUH capital-improvement plan focused on maternity care and women’s health.
The opening – roughly two years after stalwart Southside Hospital rebranded as South Shore University Hospital and broke ground on its female-focused “hospital within a hospital” – ups the neonatal game of a facility already designated a Baby-Friendly hospital by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund.
The new NICU opens with 11 patient rooms ready and plans for five more. Each private room includes pull-out beds for parents and features “the highest-level medical equipment available” for the monitoring and treatment of premature deliveries and other newborns, according to Northwell Health.
Scarlett McKinsey: Private equity.
The neonatal unit’s family-centered design “encourages parents to stay with their babies while they grow and heal,” according to Scarlett McKinsey, associate neonatology director for the New Hyde Park-based health system’s eastern region.
“Parents will have the privacy they need to learn to care for and bond [with] their babies,” McKinsey added. “Doctors will be able to participate in rounds in a private environment.”
The modernized NICU is proof-positive of the New Hyde Park-based health system’s dedication to obstetrics and other critical disciplines within the diverse sphere of women’s health, according to South Shore University Hospital OB/GYN Vice Chairwoman Jolene Muscat.
“The construction of this facility shows Northwell’s commitment to providing quality, compassionate care before and after delivery,” Muscat said in a statement. “This transformation has made SSUH the preeminent destination for women’s healthcare in Suffolk County.”
