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2023 HEALTH CARE EDITION
ADDED FEATURES
WHO IT WILL HELP
Texas Health Plano’s designation as a Level IV NICU, Texas Health Plano means that it admits patients from smaller units in the area. Total admissions Transfers from other hospitals
300 400 500 600 200 100 0
475
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The new neonatal intensive care unit family center at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano will bring several new features to comfort for patients and families. • 7 New rooms to accommodate overnight stays
in the fall, and Jessica Reese, Texas Health Plano NICU nurse manager, said the additional rooms will allow fami- lies to be closer to their newborn while they receive treatment. “Our big goal here is to make an area where babies can get the intensive medical care that they need, and the families are able to be involved in every part of that,” she said. Texas Health Plano is the only hos- pital with a Level IV NICU in Collin or Denton counties, meaning it provides care to the most critically ill babies in the area. A personal experience Parents Amy and Chris Skaggs know how important that proximity to their child can be. The Skaggses had twins, Jaxon and Leighton, admitted to the NICU at Texas Health Plano in 2011 and had to commute from their home in Celina daily. “I say that the NICU was like a roller coaster—extreme highs and extreme lows; one step forward and then two steps back,” Chris Skaggs said. Jaxon spent 74 days in the NICU before coming home, but hospital sta weren’t able to save Leighton. Not long after, the couple started a nonpro t called Leighton’s Gift to help families in the NICU. “She was only here for three weeks, but we want her to have a purpose and a legacy,” Chris Skaggs said of Leighton. The organization’s rst project was installing 45 cameras—one for each bed—at Texas Health Plano, and the • Triple-occupancy room for families of triplets • Sinks designed to accommodate bathing • Noise-reduction ooring • Lounge for family use • Other quality of life enhancements, including televisions and milk storage
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• Welcome lounge with comfortable seating, a refrigerator, a co ee bar and a work area • Washer and dryer • Double-occupancy room to facilitate families of twins
SOURCE: TEXAS HEALTH RESOURCES, TEXAS ADMINISTRATIVE CODE RENDERING COURTESY TEXAS HEALTH PLANO SOURCE: TEXAS HEALTH PLANO COMMUNITY IMPACT
require additional care after leaving the NICU, whether that is with oxygen machines or other equipment. She said the private rooms will be useful for families with babies about to be dis- charged from the NICU. “It’ll allow the parents some time to get really comfortable with the equip- ment and things that are going home with the baby,” Reese said. “That way they can just feel more prepared before they leave.” The existing NICU is set up in a pod structure, with several patients sep- arated by curtains. Another major reason for the family center is to give families privacy NICUs don’t always provide, Reese said. “When I rst became a NICU nurse, everything was kind of like an open room—the babies and the families were all in this big open space that didn’t provide a lot of privacy for the fam- ilies,” she said. “Over the years, the design of NICUs has moved to more private rooms. That’s where we’re leaning, and this is just the rst stage in that without having to give us a whole brand new NICU.” The Skaggses are hoping the fam- ily center can restore some comfort for families that have extended NICU stays. “What you normally have with the baby, like the rst bottle or the rst bath, that’s in a hospital setting,” Chris Skaggs said. “I think with those rooms, you can have a little bit more of that comfort. It brings some of those com- forts of home and a little bit of normalcy to a completely abnormal situation.”
Skaggses jumped at the opportunity to partner with the hospital to help fund the family center. “The cameras, the family center, all of them are things we would have used in nitely while we were there for 74 days,” Chris Skaggs said. “We can totally see the use for it. It’s not just a new fountain in the lobby. It’s stu we would have absolutely used.” The NICU family center is especially important for the Skaggses because their inspiration for starting Leighton’s Gift was the hospital’s bereavement room, which was donated by a family that went through a similar tragedy. Amy Skaggs called helping with the project a “full circle moment.” “That’s the only home [Leighton] ever knew,” Amy Skaggs said. “So to have the opportunity to give back in that capacity is so special.” Why it’s needed Texas Health Plano had 406 NICU admissions in 2022, a total that is on par with admissions over the last decade. The Level IV designation also means the hospital has a lot of those patients transferred from smaller units, and many have long stays in the NICU. Reese said those stays can last several months, making the accommoda- tions in the family center more crucial during those long stays. “We end up having these sicker, smaller babies that stay a lot longer,” she said. “We have babies that can stay for seven or eight months in the NICU— that’s a really, really long time to have people away from their babies. … [The family center] just allows the families to stay with the patient, instead of hav- ing to go back and forth to the hospital.” Reese added that many patients
WHAT DOES LEVEL IV MEAN?
Texas Health Plano has the only Level IV NICU in Collin or Denton counties. It can provide care for mothers and infants of all gestational ages as well as the most critically ill infants, including:
Capability to perform major pediatric surgery, including surgical repair of complex conditions. A comprehensive range of pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical subspecialists. Facilitation of transports and outreach to lower level facilities. Advanced imaging, such as MRI.
Full-range respiratory and cardiovascular support.
A blood bank capable of providing blood and blood component therapy.
Pediatric anesthesiologists
For more information The NICU family center project can be found on Texas Health Plano’s website at bit.ly/45JuNHo. Leighton’s Gift can be found on the
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
foundation’s website at www.leightonsgift.com.
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PLANO SOUTH EDITION • JUNE 2023
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