Expanding NICU care for our tiniest patients
Newborn deliveries at University of Iowa Health Care have increased significantly in recent years. This includes the number of premature and high-risk babies in need of specialized neonatal care. Many of these babies are admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at UI Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
To accommodate the state’s growing need for maternal care and specialized newborn care, UI Health Care is working to relocate and expand its NICU to Level 7 and Level 8 of Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Each floor will have 28 patient rooms as well as support spaces, family waiting spaces, and provider work rooms.
“We need to improve access to comprehensive maternal health care at every stage, for both pregnant people and their babies,” says Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH, UI vice president for medical affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean of the Carver College of Medicine. “With the state shortage of OBGYN providers and more labor and delivery units closing in rural areas, we are seeing more complex pregnancies and babies in need of neonatal intensive care. Thankfully, Iowans are fortunate to have a national leader in neonatology right here in our state. Expanding the capabilities of our NICU will allow us to increase access for the families who need us.”
The Level 8 expansion was approved by the Iowa Board of Regents in November 2024, with construction anticipated to begin spring 2025 and completed by summer 2026. The Level 7 expansion was approved by the Iowa Board of Regents in February 2024 and is currently in construction with plans to open by the end of 2025.
Built in 2017, the Stead Family Children’s Hospital’s seventh and eighth floors were originally constructed as shell spaces with plans to build them out in the future. Stead Family Children’s Hospital is a national leader in neonatology care, with some of the highest survival rates in the country for extremely premature babies.
The NICU expansion is one of many construction projects currently underway on UI Health Care’s university campus. Renovations and expansions are also happening in the burn unit, emergency department, neurology clinic, and maternal health services.
