Florida Hospital to Expand Nursery

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Florida Hospital Memorial Center in Daytona Beach is planning to spend $10 million on an upgraded neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), hospital officials announced on Dec 30.

The hospital is a licensed Level I NICU, but after delivering more than 1,500 babies between December 2013 and November 2014, the hospital was able to receive a certificate of need exemption from the Agency for Health Care Administration (ACHA) for a Level II neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) designation. Certificates of need are required in many states before facility expansions to ensure that there is a community need.

A Level II NICU cares for sick and premature newborn infants born at 32-weeks gestational age or greater who need medical care related to various medical conditions. This includes caring for babies who can’t stay warm on their own and need to be placed in an incubator, or aren’t strong enough to eat well and need assistance feeding. In addition, a Level II NICU can care for infants with mild health problems related to prematurity, such as jaundice or apnea of prematurity.

“We have been licensed as a Level I Neonatal Nursery, but have been planning for a Level II NICU for quite some time now. For years, we have had the advanced technology, the specialized equipment and the skilled, expert medical staff needed to provide Level II NICU care, we just didn’t have the designation from the state,” said Becky Vernon, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center director of women and children’s services, in a statement. “With this designation, at-risk mothers in the community will now have a choice in deciding where they would like to deliver their baby. Additionally, babies born at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center that were not initially predicted to be at risk can continue their care at our hospital, instead of being transferred out of the community.”

With a Level II NICU designation, the hospital will invest in construction, expanding the hospital’s square footage by 16,332 square feet on top of the third floor and connecting to the BirthCare Center’s existing unit on the fourth floor. The expansion will add a 16-bed private room NICU in addition to the BirthCare Center’s 10 Level I nursery beds.

The hospital will also upgrade its NICU equipment, and all rooms will include state-of-the-art incubators, radiant warmer, cardiac monitors and ventilators.

The Level II NICU is expected to open by late 2016.