Neonatologists in the NICU of Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies are considered among the nation’s top leaders in specialized care for premature and critically ill newborns. Opened in 1975, the Level IV neonatal intensive care unit has treated over 50,000 premature and high-risk newborns during its 50-year history and has expanded into one of the nation’s largest and most technologically advanced programs.
“We are committed to being at the forefront of neonatal care for the most vulnerable babies,” saysJ. Lauren Ruoss, MD, a clinical neonatologist and practice director of the NICU at Orlando Health Winnie Palmer.
Today, the unit is one of the few centers in the country and the first in Florida with an established neonatal hemodynamics program. A neonatal hemodynamics team uses advanced ultrasound to evaluate and support the tiniest hearts, helping guide life-saving care for the most fragile newborns. This program highlights the success of close collaboration between neonatology and Orlando Health Children’s Heart Institute. The NICU has recently joined the national database as a referral center for fetuses and neonates in need of renal replacement therapy, further strengthening the neonatal hemodynamics program by integrating kidney and heart support for vulnerable patients.
“What we are accomplishing in terms of what’s possible with tiny babies really sets us apart,” says Dr. Ruoss, director of the Neonatal Point-of-Care Ultrasound Program. “We have the support that’s needed — from a comprehensive surgical program, specialized pediatric heart program and renal program to neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and point-of-care ultrasound. We also are doing neonatal surgeries at the bedside with close collaboration between pediatric anesthesia, surgery, cardiology and neonatology, bringing the operating room to the baby.”
Continuous research, collaboration and mutual learning with some of the best NICUs worldwide also foster exceptional outcomes. The Orlando Health Winnie Palmer NICU is a member of several national and international collaboratives to share data, education and guidelines. Clinicians actively participate in and lead initiatives and clinical trials aimed at benchmarking clinical and quality outcomes advancing neonatal care, including:
- Tiny Baby Collaborative, an international research group of 49 hospitals in seven countries across four continents
- Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Collaborative
- Neonatal Hemodynamic Research Center
- National Point-of-Care Ultrasound Collaborative
- PIVOTAL Trial (Percutaneous Intervention Versus Observational Trial of Arterial Ductus in Low Weight Infants)
“Participation in these collaborations and knowledge-sharing with our global colleagues is a combined effort with our maternal-fetal medicine colleagues, neonatologists and pediatric subspecialists at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children,” says Dr. Ruoss. “Our collaboration among our Orlando Health peers helps us continue to improve on our already phenomenal outcomes.”
Orlando Health is dedicated to revolutionizing patient care with outcomes advanced by specialists skilled in the most leading-edge technologies and involved in advanced clinical research and training. Magnet-designated for nursing excellence and high-quality patient care, Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital is nationally and internationally recognized for its excellence in perinatal and neonatal care.
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