From left, Paul Sternberg, M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, Margy Ann Gass, wife of the late J. Donald M. Gass, M.D., Guri Bronner, M.D., who was presented the inaugural J. Donald M. Gass, M.D., Fellowship and Franco Recchia, M.D.
Photo by Dana Johnson
Children’s Hospital to help support NICUs in Bowling Green, Columbia
Vanderbilt's Division of Neonatology recently began staffing a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Medical Center in Bowling Green, Ky.
“This new program will allow many premature and full-term newborns with a variety of medical conditions to be cared for by Vanderbilt neonatologists and neonatal nurse practitioners closer to home,” said Judy Aschner, M.D., director of the Division of Neonatology at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
“The opening of this new Vanderbilt regional affiliated nursery will also allow us to send convalescing infants back to Bowling Green when they no longer need the specialized care available at VCH, but are not yet ready for discharge to home. This will help assure that we always have NICU beds available to care for the sickest newborn infants who can only get the care they need at Vanderbilt.”
A similar agreement between Vanderbilt Neonatology and Maury Regional Hospital will result in the opening of a new Neonatal Intensive Care unit in Columbia, Tenn., in mid-October. This new NICU will also be staffed by Vanderbilt neonatologists and neonatal nurse practitioners.
“We are very excited about our new agreements with Maury Regional Hospital and The Medical Center in Bowling Green,” Aschner said. “These joint programs will strengthen our ability to provide comprehensive neonatal services that meet the individual needs of the local community and we hope will reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality in our region. These two new programs were based on the successful model at Gateway Medical Center in Clarksville, which has been receiving services from Vanderbilt Neonatology since 1996.”