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LAS VEGAS, NV - More than 70 local families, whose children began their lives in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Sunrise Children’s Hospital, recently gathered at Sunrise Children’s Hospital on Saturday, Jan. 28 to celebrate life and health alongside the NICU doctors and nurses who cared for their babies.
The celebratory reunion included games and activities for children and provided an opportunity for families and parents to reconnect with the staff at Sunrise Children’s Hospital, thanking them for providing the highest quality care available in Nevada to premature infants and children, including their own.
The 72-bed NICU at Sunrise Children’s Hospital is the state’s largest, most advanced NICU equipped to treat Nevada’s smallest and sickest babies. Opened in 1974, the Sunrise Children’s Hospital NICU was the state’s first NICU, and now cares for nearly 1,000 neonates every year.
It is the only hospital in Nevada to offer Neonatal Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for the tiniest patients with life-threatening heart and/or lung problems, and home to Nevada’s only pediatric heart program, caring for babies in utero, newborns and children who need heart surgery. Sunrise Children’s Hospital offers a dedicated 24/7 pediatric and neonatal critical care transport team to quickly bring critically ill babies from outlying areas to the hospital via pediatric ambulance, helicopter or airplane.
According to Todd Sklamberg, CEO, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center and Sunrise Children’s Hospital, gatherings like the NICU reunion are joyous occasions that allow families to celebrate the fact that their children are alive and thriving.
“Having a baby is one of life’s most precious milestones, but having a baby prematurely or a baby with a complicated medical condition can be overwhelming to families and parents,” said Sklamberg. “It is an honor and a privilege to witness the families and patients reunite with our care team and to know these children are here today because of the life-saving care they received in the state’s largest, most comprehensive NICU at Sunrise Children’s Hospital.”
