Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

Newborn babies who need intensive medical attention often are admitted into a special area of the hospital called the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Opened in 2007, the newly renovated NICU offers 38 beds.

Babies in the NICU are cared for by our team of two neonatologists and a neonatal nurse practitioner. NICU nurses specialize in providing care for the smallest and most fragile babies. Therapists, dietitians, lactation consultants, pharmacists, social workers, and chaplains are also part of the NICU team.

Many times babies and children in the region need a higher level care than can be provided in smaller hospitals. We maintain a specialty transport team of trained nurses and respiratory therapist that travels by air or ambulance to the regional hospitals to stabilize and safely transport these patients back to Covenant Children’s.

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Children who need special care for a critical condition are admitted to the hospital’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The 20-bed unit is staffed with physicians, nurses and other care professionals expertly trained and skilled in caring for children under serious or life-threatening circumstances. A physician specializing in caring for critically ill children is on the unit 24 hours a day. Children in intermediate care – those who are improving but not yet ready to leave intensive care – are followed by a hospitalist, a physician whose practice is exclusively for hospitalized children.