The Friends of Winchester Hospital recently made a donation to fund the purchase of a BiliSoft blanket to treat neonatal jaundice in Winchester Hospital's Level IIB Special Care Nursery. Pictured, left to right, are: Robert Lord, board member of the Friends of Winchester Hospital; Sharon Fitzpatrick, RN, nurse manager of the Special Care Nursery; Karen McAlmon, MD, medical director of the Special Care Nursery; Jeannine Barrett, president of the Friends of Winchester Hospital; and Cindy DeRosa, past president and current board member of the Friends of Winchester Hospital and co-chairman of the Read to Me program.
Winchester, Mass. – The Friends of Winchester Hospital recently made a donation to fund the purchase of a BiliSoft blanket for Winchester Hospital’s Level IIB Special Care Nursery. The BiliSoft blanket will be used to provide portable phototherapy for the treatment of neonatal jaundice.
“We are grateful to the Friends for providing this valuable equipment,” said Karen McAlmon, MD, a neonatologist and the medical director of Winchester Hospital’s Special Care Nursery. “Their support will help us provide more comfortable and efficient treatment for infants with jaundice.”
Winchester Hospital’s Special Care Nursery provides care for premature and full-term babies who need extra care after birth. Of the more than 300 newborns admitted to the 16-bed facility each year, about 75 percent are born at Winchester Hospital with the remaining 25 percent transferred from Boston hospitals. Since its inception in 1988, Winchester Hospital’s Special Care Nursery has treated more than 6,700 babies who are low birth weight, born prematurely, unable to feed on their own or simply need additional care. It is one of only a few Level II hospitals in the state that offers continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to assist infants with respiratory distress.
“Our role as Friends is to assist staff members and their patients,” said Jeannine Barrett, president of the Friends of Winchester Hospital. “We are grateful for the opportunity to help new moms and these special babies.”
The Friends of Winchester Hospital also sponsors the hospital’s Read to Me program, a child literacy program that is promoted to expectant parents at childbirth classes. To date, the Friends have presented more than 30,000 books to newborns through the program.
