Childerguild donates $350,000 toward care of ‘the smallest and sickest newborns’

Childerguild recently donated $350,000 to the Silver Cross Foundation to help provide additional services for women and infants.

According to the Silver Cross website, the Silver Cross Foundation is “the 501(c)(3) fundraising arm” of Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. The hospital announced on its website Jan. 21 that it plans to build a “state-of-the-art” 24-bed neonatal intensive care unit, which will connect to the hospital’s current birthing center.

The hospital modeled this NICU after the NICU at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Silver Cross’ NICU will cost about $11.3 million, according to the website. Part of the Childerguild donation will go toward establishing the NICU, which Silver Cross plans to open in 2022, according to a news release from Silver Cross.

Silver Cross also opened its $22 million cardiac expansion program March 31.

Silver Cross President and CEO Ruth Colby said in a news release published on the hospital’s website that “more babies are born at Silver Cross than any other hospital in Will County” and that Silver Cross had more than 3,000 deliveries in 2020.

But chronic conditions and the opioid epidemic are causing more premature births, resulting in more babies needing complex care. Silver Cross currently isn’t able to provide care to babies born earlier than 30 weeks or weighing 2 pounds, 12 ounces or less, according to the release.

“Last year, we had to transfer more than 50 babies by ambulance or helicopter to other hospitals for a higher level of care,” Marilyn Paollella, director of maternal and child services, said on the website. “This can be very stressful for parents and grandparents as they are separated from their baby for weeks and even months during what can be a touch-and-go situation.”

Paollella also said that Silver Cross’ NICU will have the “specialized expertise and comprehensive resources available to treat the smallest and sickest newborns, as well as full-term babies with congenital disorders.”

NICU specialists will include neonatologists, neonatal nurse practitioners, neonatal nurses, developmental care specialists, respiratory therapists, nutritionists and social workers, along with access to pediatric medical and surgical subspecialists, Paollella said.

According to Silver Cross, newborns will have their own rooms in the NICU. The NICU also will have a family lounge and family transition room. The transition room will allow parents to spend the night with their infant the night before the infant is discharged home. This transition room also will feature a consultation room and a treatment room for minor procedures.

The Childerguild donation also will go toward the construction of three more labor, delivery and recovery rooms; the purchase of two birthing beds for the triage area in the birthing center; and the purchase of a portable fetal monitor that will monitor the heart rates of both mother and baby.

For information, visit silvercross.org.