RICHMOND, Va. -- The NICU units at Chippenham Hospital and Johnston-Willis Hospital will be consolidating to be just one NICU at Johnston-Willis.
This change will go into effect on November 1.
The HCA hospitals are located six miles apart and both serve Richmond's Southside.
Pryor Green with Chippenham Hospital provided the following statement with CBS6 explaining some of the reasons behind the adjustment.
The NICUs at Chippenham & Johnston-Willis Hospitals are consolidating into one NICU at Johnston-Willis effective November 1, 2022. These hospitals are part of the same organization and are located six miles apart, both serving the south side of the Richmond metropolitan area.
Births at Johnston-Willis have increased over the past year and we believe consolidating our NICU services will allow us to continue providing the best care for our patients. In order to ensure optimal staffing levels, as well as our healthcare providers’ professional growth and development, we are combining staffing resources into a single site of care at Johnston-Willis Hospital.
Johnston-Willis opened a new, state-of-the-art 20-bed unit in 2021 that provides advanced care options for babies born with life-threatening conditions. It is a Level III NICU, which means Johnston-Willis is better equipped to care for ill or premature babies than many other hospitals. The NICU team is led by neonatologists and a group of highly specialized neonatal nurse practitioners who provide a high level of care that improves successful outcomes for mothers and babies. A physician is on-site 24/7, as well as other caregivers, who are able to handle emergencies at a moment’s notice.
The community is fortunate to have accessible health systems and providers for neonatal services. With Johnston-Willis’ recently opened NICU, we know that Chippenham and Johnston-Willis Hospitals will continue to provide our community with advanced care options for babies born with life-threatening conditions. We anticipate a smooth transition of neonatal services from Chippenham to the Johnston-Willis campus.
Chippenham has provided quality pediatric care to the Central Virginia community for over 30 years, and will continue to do so. The pediatric services include one of the region’s busiest pediatric ERs, 24/7 in-house pediatric physicians, a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) staffed by pediatric critical care specialists, a pediatric burn and wound program, and inpatient psychiatric services for children and adolescents at Tucker Pavilion.
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