Loyola to Host Picnic for Previous Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Patients and Their Caregivers
June 17, 2018Categories: Emergency Medicine & Trauma, Pediatrics
MAYWOOD, IL – Vanessa Naples was only 25 weeks pregnant when she was transferred to Loyola Medicine to deliver her daughter Alanna.
Alanna was born at 1 pound, 4 ounces and would spend 80 days in Loyola's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). During that time she underwent a procedure to fix a hole in the aorta. Ms. Naples said the clinicians at Loyola's NICU helped her feel at home during those uncertain days.
"They were very calming," Ms. Naples said. "I never felt any panic when Alanna was being cared for."
Alanna, age three, will return to Loyola on Sunday, June 24 at 1 pm when Loyola celebrates a NICU reunion with former families and their caregivers.
"It's great to have the opportunity to show the nurses and doctors what their hard work did," Ms. Naples said. "Their exceptional care is the reason Alanna is doing so well today."
The reunion will be held at Loyola University Medical Center, 2160 S. First Avenue, Maywood, on the grounds between the hospital and the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
"The reunion is special not just for the families but for our staff as well," Angel Lampkin-Kwabena, RN, said. "Many of the babies have prolonged stays in our unit and we forge close relationships with the families during that time. It's always great to see them flourishing and reconnect with their families."
Loyola's Level III, 50-bed NICU offers the latest technology, therapies and techniques, and serves as a national model for specialized protocols and practices in the care of premature infants. The unit recently celebrated its 30th anniversary.
About Loyola Medicine
Loyola Medicine, a member of Trinity Health, is a nationally ranked academic, quaternary care system based in Chicago's western suburbs. The three-hospital system includes Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, MacNeal Hospital, as well as convenient locations offering primary care, specialty care and immediate care services from nearly 2,000 physicians throughout Cook, Will and DuPage counties. LUMC is a 547-licensed-bed hospital in Maywood that includes the William G. and Mary A. Ryan Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, the John L. Keeley, MD, Emergency Department, a Level 1 trauma center, Illinois's largest burn center, the Nancy W. Knowles Orthopaedic Institute, a certified comprehensive stroke center, transplant center and a children’s hospital. Having delivered compassionate care for over 50 years, Loyola also trains the next generation of caregivers through its academic affiliation with Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.
For more information, visit loyolamedicine.org. You can also follow Loyola Medicine on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly known as Twitter).
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, faith-based health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 127,000 colleagues and more than 38,300 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 26 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, the Trinity Health system includes 93 hospitals, 107 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 142 urgent care locations and many other health and well-being services. In fiscal year 2024, the Livonia, Michigan-based health system invested $1.3 billion in its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. For more information, visit us at www.trinity-health.org, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter).