Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Experienced staff, advanced technology
From Hoag’s level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Newport Beach and our special care nursery (SCN) in Irvine, Hoag serves our community with advanced, around-the-clock care for infants born prematurely, or with complications.
All expectant parents hope that their babies will be healthy. Yet sometimes problems arise that result in a newborn requiring highly specialized care. When this happens, infants benefit greatly from having immediate access to an advanced NICU.
Hoag’s state-of-the-art NICU features individualized quality care, with advanced technical equipment and architecturally built to minimize noise, thereby promoting an optimal healing environment for infants. The calm, quiet setting of Hoag’s NICU is also conducive to families sharing intimate bonding time with their little ones. The comfort and well-being of NICU parents is also an important focus, which is why Hoag provides a parent’s lounge with a kitchenette and a space for parents to access education and research, as well as accommodations for overnight stays. When families are not able to be with their baby physically, they can still spend time with their baby remotely thanks to bedside NICVIEW web cameras. Parents, family members and friends can log in to the secure portal from anywhere at any time, which helps with feeling connected. It is the next best thing to being able to hold and snuggle your newborn, made possible by the generosity of the Legacy Foundation.
Utilizing best practices for delivery of care, Hoag’s expert neonatal team consists of board-certified neonatologists from Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), Magnet® designated neonatal nurses, respiratory therapists and other multidisciplinary team members specially trained to care for our smallest babies in the womb-like environment of our NICU, featuring muted lighting and reduced noise. The care often starts in the delivery room, with our NICU team on-hand to meet the parents and baby at the time of delivery. In addition, the NICU team partners with maternal fetal medicine experts, nutritionists and developmental specialists to care patients and their families in the NICU. Through the specialized development clinic, NICU alumni are followed up to two years after birth by a team of neonatal experts to ensure developmental milestones are met and families have access to the resources and specialists they need to continue providing quality care to their baby after leaving the NICU. A neonatologist is available on the unit at all times, and the ratio of neonatal nurses-to-patients is exceptionally low to assure excellent care. As a multidisciplinary unit, Hoag’s NICU also utilizes the expertise of occupational therapists, social services case managers, lactation consultants, pharmacists and other specialists.
Through a collaborative partnership between Hoag and CHOC, our community has access to specialized neonatal care when they need it most. The partnership includes a designated neonatal transport team for immediate transfer from Hoag to CHOC, should neonatal surgery or more intensive care be required.
Additionally, expert consultations are available via a real-time, telemedicine video conferencing with CHOC specialists such as neurologists, cardiologists, gastroenterologists, geneticists, infectious disease, and endocrinologists.
Hoag Hospital also houses a CHOC Children’s Specialty Outpatient Clinic at Hoag Health Center- Newport Beach to address the special needs of our pediatric patients within the community, including an after hours pediatric urgent care called UrgiKids.
