Until the opening of Parkview’s Special Care Nursery, Southern Colorado’s babies who were in need of special care were sent to Colorado Springs or Denver, away from their home and families. The new 9-bed Special Care Nursery, which provides 24-hour care, is staffed with board certified neonatologists and neonatal nurse practitioners to allow for the best possible care close to home.

The Special Care Nursery is designed to provide specialized care for newborns, who are born prematurely, with a gestational age of 32 weeks. The nursery can also provide care for moderately ill newborns with low birth weight, inability to maintain body temperature, or inability to take oral feedings. The Special Care Nursery has the capability to provide mechanical ventilation for brief durations as well as continuous positive airway pressure.

In early 2005, Parkview partnered with the nationally know Pediatrix Medical Group. The partnership consists of educational, clinical and consultative support for the Birth Center as well as the new Special Care Nursery by the physicians from Pediatrix Medical Group of Colorado. Pediatrix Medical Group of Colorado employs neonatologists who care for critically ill or premature newborns. The knowledge and expertise of the group will be shared with Parkview Birth Center staff and physicians. Pediatrix Medical Group, together with its affiliates, comprise the nation’s largest healthcare services company focused on physician services for newborn, maternal-fetal, and other pediatric subspecialties. Pediatrix Medical Group was founded in 1979 as a neonatal physician group and has expanded to a nationwide practice of physicians providing care for children during every stage of life.

For more information on Parkview’s Special Care Nursery, please call (719) 584-4379.