Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
The University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is among the largest in the Midwest, with approximately 1,000 admissions every year. And, with the new hospital, the NICU has 10 additional beds, and the space per bed will double.
The NICU contains 47 designated tertiary care beds (Level III) and 18 convalescent (Level II) beds. Extracorporeal life support (ECMO) can be provided for up to three infants at a time within the NICU. We have a special group of ECMO technicians supplementing the regular NICU nursing staff.
Because you, your family, and your child's healthcare team never want to be far from your baby, we have added these amenities to the area surrounding the NICU:
- Visitor's waiting room
- Breast milk pumping rooms
- Computer facilities
- Support facilities for nursing staff
- On-call sleeping rooms
NICU patients include premature babies--some weighing barely more than 1 pound--plus critically ill infants and those with congenital conditions that threaten their young lives. Our neonatology specialists provide the highest level of tertiary and quaternary support for the most complex disorders. Subspecialists in all medical and surgical areas are available at all times and are supported by hospital staffs with technical, laboratory and service expertise.
At the Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, parents are able to accompany their children day and night throughout their NICU stay. In addition, the latest in pediatric surgery, cardiac surgery, and non-invasive cardiac procedures are offered to critically ill children on a daily basis.
