July 12, 2022

Help Bring a New Giraffe OmniBed Carestation to our Special Care Nursery

Sometimes the babies born at our Hospital arrive a little early or are born with a medical condition that means they can’t go home right away. When that happens, newborns will spend a few days to a few weeks in our Special Care Nursery.

In fact, every year St. Joe’s cares for about 600 babies who need mechanical life support to breathe and eat, and to help monitor their vital signs. It’s stressful for new parents to see their tiny bundle of joy needing intensive care. But with your generous support, we can equip our Special Care Nursery with a new Giraffe OmniBed Carestation. This carestation creates the safest, warmest environment for babies in need to rest, recover and grow big and strong…so they can go home with their families…sooner.

Kelly Chinchilla is a Nurse Manager in the Special Care Nursery, and we asked her to explain to our supporters why the Giraffe OmniBed is so helpful to the babies and the families we care for at St. Joe’s.

“The Giraffe OmniBed Carestation converts from an incubator to an infant warmer, meaning that we don’t need to move these tiny patients from one piece of equipment to another in order to offer the varying care they need during their time in Hospital. Moving a fragile newborn can be stressful—for our pint-sized patients, their parents and even for our care teams, too. The controlled environment inside the Giraffe OmniBed Carestation offers comfort, safety and stability for babies as they learn to breathe, to eat and develop the strength they need. The special openings allow access for testing and medical care while also enabling parents to reach inside and build a bond with their new baby through comforting touches and support.”

This past Father’s Day, we spoke to St. Joe’s dad, Matt D’Amico, who knows the importance of this equipment first hand, since his son Luca was born at just 28-weeks. After a month and a half spent in a Giraffe OmniBed getting the specialized care he needed, Luca is getting ready to go home soon.

We know that many people are still surprised to learn that the operating dollars our Hospital receives from the government don’t cover the cost of purchasing medical equipment like the Giraffe OmniBed Carestation. But it’s true.

One of our Giraffe OmniBed Carestations in our Special Care Nursery has reached the end of its useful lifespan. To replace it, we’re relying on the support of generous donors like you. We hope that you will consider making a gift to help ensure our tiniest patients can benefit from the support of our care teams and the help of a specialized Giraffe OmniBed Carestation, allowing them to go home with their parents as soon as it’s safe for them to do so.