Soroka neonatal care center project brochure

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Contact:

Dr. Michael Sherf, MD Director General Tel: 972-8-640-3408, Fax: 972-8-627-7364 E-mail: [email protected] Soroka Medical CenterIrit BibiExternal AffairsTel: 972-8-640-3963, Fax: 972-8-640-3901E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Gerry ShowstackResource DevelopmentTel: 972-8-646-7435 Mobile: 972-54-220-2608E-mail: [email protected]

Neonatal Care Centerat Soroka Medical Center

Construction planned for newNeonatal Care Center

The new Neonatal Care Center will serve all newborns in the Negev.More than 1,000 babies are born every month at Soroka Medical Center,

more than at any other hospital in Israel.The new Neonatal Care Center will be fully protected against missiles in

line with lessons learned during the recent war in Gaza.

BackgroundThe Neonatal Department at Soroka Medical Center serves the one million residents of the Negev and is the busiest and most professional in Israel. With more than 13,000 births per year Soroka Medical Center has the busiest delivery room in the country. At any given moment, there are more than 150 newborn infants being treated by Soroka’s neonatal services. The department operates according to ISO 9002 and is the first neonatal unit in the world complying with these demanding international standards, ensuring the most advanced medical treatment including care for premature births.

Due in part to the recent increase in treatments for infertility, there is a high rate of premature births. More than 5% of newborn infants have serious medical problems requiring intensive or special care. As the sole medical center serving the entire southern region of Israel, the Neonatal Department cares for more than 500 Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) preemies annually, as well as more than 1,500 infants who require other special neonatal medical treatment each year.

The neonatal medical team at Soroka has pioneered a unique model of care for its patients. Involving members of the infant’s family in family-centered care, the medical team has developed methods that allow premature and other babies

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transferred to this unit after their condition has stabilized.

They are cared for by their parents under the careful eye and guidance of the medical staff. At the end of the stay in the Recovery Unit the infants are discharged

home with their parents who are now confident in

their knowledge and ability to care for them.

At present the Neonatal Department occupies two separate areas, far from each other. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is located on the ground floor of an old building that is unprotected against missile fire. The upper floor of another building houses the Special Care and Recovery Units which are also not protected from missiles attacks. Due to the physical distance separating the two buildings, the staffs are forced to function as two separate professional teams in two separate spaces, a situation which creates hardship for both the families and the staff. To make matters worse, each of the units is much smaller than needed and dictated by today's criteria for treating infants and caring for their families.

NeedThe aim of the proposed Neonatal Care Center is to expand and improve the facilities of the Neonatal Department, and to protect the department's infants, families, and staff. The addition of a second and a protected third floor to the existing Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will make it possible to upgrade medical care and treatment offered by the NICU, SCU, and RU at their respective levels of care. The additional space will make it possible to fully implement family-centered neonatal care at all levels and for all infants born in the Negev.

The high birthrate in the Negev and the increase in population through immigration have rendered the existing neonatal care facilities inadequate. The space available does not allow for medical care involving mothers and other members of the family in the baby’s first stages of development. The physical space and the number of incubators and medical equipment cannot accommodate all of the expectant mothers who arrive at the delivery room to give birth to babies who are premature or likely to need special care for other reasons. Some expectant mothers are sent, despite their sensitive medical condition, to hospitals in the center of the country.

Involvement of mothers is critical for all of the infants, and the present physical set up cannot accommodate that need. Additional space is needed for coaching families in infant care, including resuscitation of babies in cases where it

needing special care to start life in a normal caring atmosphere and increase both the probability and the quality of survival.

The existing Neonatal Department was built in the 1980's. The physical conditions of the facility have become outmoded and are no longer sufficient or appropriate.

In addition, during the war in Gaza which began in December 2008, we were forced to swiftly evacuate all the new mothers and infants from the Neonatal Department to protected quarters within barely an hour after the first missile fell nearby. While there was some risk in moving the premature babies, the risk of injury or worse from missiles was intolerable, and the decision became clear as soon as Beer Sheva came under direct fire.

Working under direct threat in a complex operation that enlisted the human and technological prowess of our doctors and nursing staff, and assisted by the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command, the infants and mothers were transferred to a suitably protected building. All of the preemies survived the move to the improvised site without any injuries. The infants and their families were forced to remain in the facility to which they were transferred during the entire period of the war.

Neonatal Care TodayThe Neonatal Department staff includes eight senior neonatalogists, five pediatricians and 80 nursing and administrative personnel. The guiding principles for treating the hospitalized newborns are to place emphasis on the infant's health and safety, engage the parents' maximum involvement toward the infant's discharge to their home following an extended and often dramatic hospital stay, and ensure proper preparation of the family to acquire confidence and assume responsibility for the care of their infant.

The neonatal department is divided into three sections: intensive care for premature births; special care for babies treated in intensive care who require additional time before being discharged and for babies born with chronic diseases, addictions, or congenital anomalies; and the section for recovery care. These three main units comprise the Neonatal Department:

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which provides level-three lifesaving care for preterm infants.

Special Care Unit (SCU), which treats infants that need level-two treatment and those convalescing from the NICU

Recovery Unit (RU), for preemies and other infants with special needs

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might be needed, and normal activities such as feeding, as well as for medical personnel and support professionals.

As mentioned, during the recent war in Gaza, Soroka Medical Center, including its Neonatal Department, was under direct threat of missile attack. Three Grad missiles landed within less than 200 meters of the hospital. As soon as the first missile landed nearby, it was absolutely clear and imperative that all of our newborns and mothers had to be moved to protected areas within the medical center. Not only was a portion of the Neonatal Department located in buildings that were not protected, but the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit itself was (and today remains) in a building whose roof is constructed in part of glass bricks!

GoalTo expand the neonatal care facilities to serve and protect all infants born to the population of southern Israel, providing them with family-centered intensive, special and recovery care as pioneered at Soroka Medical Center, in a safe and secure setting. The expanded facility will allow medical staff and families to provide the care needed to nurture these newest Israelis.

Neonatal Care in the FutureThe highly improved physical conditions will allow the principles of Family-Centered Care to be implemented to the fullest. Emphasis will be placed on integrating the parents into the unit's work plan, ensuring that they are involved in the infants' care and in assuming ever-increasing responsibility for that care.

Neonatal Treatment Rooms will be the heart of the new unit, sufficiently spacious areas for each infant to allow at least one of the parents to comfortably care for their infant throughout the day.

Care Areas will be created that allow the entry of natural lighting. Each area will be partially separated by dividers and will include equipment and furnishings that will allow the parents to take care of their infant and relax comfortably between treatments.

Lodging Facilities will be included for parents and their infants for several nights ahead of the infant's discharge or for situations when it is not possible for the parent to return home (such as the beginning of fulltime nursing, a distant place of residence, transportation difficulties). These overnight rooms will be outfitted with monitoring equipment to observe the infant's condition and enable the parents to call for assistance from the attending staff.

Training Rooms for Parents will be areas designed for group and individual instruction.

Breast Milk Pumping Facilities will provide convenient arrangements for the mothers to express and store milk.

Family Rooms will be welcoming areas for siblings and other family members accompanying the parents. The facility will also contain a Resource Room that will offers books, pamphlets, and instructional films on infant care and common problems encountered, links to information on the internet, as well as activities for siblings (videos, children's books, games, etc.).

Dining Area for Parents will be conveniently located adjacent to the neonatal treatment rooms.

Floor Plan of the future Second Floor

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Neonatal Care Center - NCCrendering of proposed

NCC Elevations

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CostsThe estimated total construction cost of the project is $9,250,000

First Floor: 860 sq. meters, involving the full renovation of the existing Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, $1,000,000

Technical Floor: 860 sq. meters, housing technical equipment and infrastructure, $750,000

Second Floor: 1,005 sq. meters, construction and protected infrastructures for additional Neonatal Intensive Care, Special Care, and Recovery Unit, $3,000,000

Third Floor: 1,005 sq. meters, reinforced to protect this floor and the entire building against the threat of missile attack, to house examinations rooms, physicians offices, parent training areas, family space, $3,000,000

Medical equipment and furnishings: $1,500,000

Total project cost - $9,250,000

Donation and Donor RecognitionThe new Neonatal Care Center can be named by the donors for a gift of $4,500,000. Additional funding for the project will be provided by Soroka Medical Center.

Full and very prominent donor recognition will be provided on and inside the Neonatal Care Center and at the Donors' Wall of Honor of Soroka Medical Center. The facility will be dedicated at a major dignified public dedication ceremony. The donor will be recognized in all publicity and publications of the Neonatal Care Center.

Thank you for your considerationof this proposal and request

American Friends of Soroka Medical CenterP.O Box 184-H Scarsdale, NY 10583

Tel: 914-725-9070Fax: 914-725-9073

email: [email protected]: www.soroka.org

Soroka Medical CenterPOB 151, Beer-Sheva,84101 IsraelTel: 972-8-640-3963Fax: 972-8-640-3901email: [email protected]: www.soroka.co.il

המרכז הרפואי האוניברסיטאי סורוקה

ת.ד. 151 באר-שבע 84101טל: 08-640-3963 פקס: 08-640-3901

email: [email protected] :אינטרנט