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NSMC News Releases

Special Care Nursery Celebrates 20th Anniversary
10/30/2012

Some of North Shore Medical Center (NSMC) Salem Hospital’s tiniest patients were invited back to the hospital for a festive, Halloween-themed reunion to celebrate their miraculous births and recoveries at the NSMC Special Care Nursery. More than 100 infants and toddlers attended and reunited with hospital nurses, therapists, and physicians.


Last year alone, hundreds of babies were admitted to the hospital’s Special Care Nursery, the centerpiece of NSMC’s neonatology program. Despite entering the world early, weighing as little as two pounds or facing other complex health problems, the babies have grown and thrived and hospital staff were excited to reunite with their little patients. This year was especially exciting because it marked the Special Care Nursery’s 20th Anniversary.

About the Special Care Nursery at NSMC Salem Hospital

The Special Care Nursery is an intermediate level care nursery. Premature babies, multiple births such as twins and triplets and other babies with medical difficulties are cared for in the Special Care Nursery by specially trained neonatologists and neonatal nurses.

Babies are usually born at NSMC’s Salem Hospital’s Birthplace or in a high-risk, academic medical center in Boston, including the hospital’s two partners, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. These parents have their babies transferred to Salem so they can be closer to their home.

Fundraising Underway for Expansion of the Special Care Nursery and Inpatient Pediatric Unit
The planned first step is to double the size of the unit to accommodate 12 high-risk infants and creating a more spacious, private and peaceful environment for babies and their families.

“Our current facilities allow only 15 to 18 inches between babies,” notes Sanjay Aurora, M.D., Chief of Newborn Medicine. “Despite the high satisfaction scores we receive from families, one thing we hear over and over is that they wish we had more space. Our new facility will respond to these needs, including space to allow some mothers to sleep at their baby’s bedside.

For older children who require hospitalization, improvements to NSMC’s inpatient Pediatric Unit will help to make their stays more comfortable. The current unit, comprised of outdated rooms originally designed to accommodate four patients each, offers limited space and no private bathrooms.

As caregivers, part of our job is to ease the stress and anxiety that come with having a sick child,” says Dr. Edward N. Bailey, Chair of Pediatrics. “These improvements will allow us to better serve our patients and their families by supporting the high-quality, personalized care for which NSMC is known.”

To learn more about NSMC’s fundraising campaign to improve the Special Care Nursery and inpatient pediatric unit, please contact Sara Andrews at sandrews1@partners.org or 978-825-6250.

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NSMC (North Shore Medical Center) is a multi-site health system headquartered in Salem, Mass., which includes NSMC Salem Hospital, NSMC Union Hospital in Lynn, MassGeneral for Children at North Shore Medical Center, NSMC Heart Center, NSMC Women’s Center and the physician network known as North Shore Physicians Group. NSMC and Massachusetts General Hospital together provide care at the Mass General/North Shore Center for Outpatient Care and the Mass General/North Shore Cancer Center in Danvers. NSMC is a member of Partners HealthCare, which was founded by Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.  #northshoremed