Sanford Medical Center Adds New Unit To Treat Micropreemie Babies

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — The newly opened Credit Unions for Kids Micropreemie Unit has been operating since mid-April. The new unit was put together through the support of 20 North Dakota credit unions.

“It was a great day to celebrate today because the process started, actually, a couple of years ago. When the hospital reached out because of our partnership through CMN hospitals and said, Hey, we got a project for you. And I’ll be honest with you, it was something a lot bigger than we ever have taken on before,” said Jeff Olson, President and CEO of the Dakota Credit Union Association.

Previously, babies who were born before the 26-week mark or weighed less than 28 ounces would be cared for with the NICU babies. But with the needed extra specialized care for the babies, the unit was well needed.

“The microbaby would still be having good care, but it’s not cohorting all the micro preemie in a designated space where the space is tailored to provide the needs, especially for the micro preemie in terms of supporting neuro developmental outcome or not only surviving the infants but also having full healthy lives for the future,” said Dr. Mohamed Mohamed, Neonatologist and Medical Director of the NICU

The new unit features four rooms with six beds. Nurses are on standby outside of the rooms to care for the babies. And currently, NICU nurses are also being trained to treat micro preemies as well.

“We’re very excited to open the unit, and actually, the first micro preemie was admitted end of March, and so currently we have three micro preemies in that unit. We’re continuously looking at the outcome and what we should enhance, but so far it’s going very well,” said Mohamed.