  When the tiniest, critically ill patients arrive at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, they will enter a new multi-million dollar neonatal care nursery designed to speed their growth and development and shorten their hospital stays.
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The 800 babies who annually come to the Tom and Katherine Black Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at UT Medical Center will as of Jan. 29, 2007, find a soothing, controlled environment. Gone are the loud noises, harsh lighting and non-stop activity that cause babies’ blood pressure and heart rates to rise, says Mark E. Anderson, MD, neonatologist and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the UT Graduate School of Medicine.
 “Lights that are never turned down and constant activity are detrimental both to babies and staff,” says Mark S. Gaylord, MD, medical director of the neonatal practitioners, adding that the noise level in a typical nursery is comparable to “mowing a yard.” In a calm environment, infants gain more weight and can go home sooner.
Five years ago, engineers, air-conditioning specialists, designers, builders, physicians, nurses and parents began visiting model nurseries and attending National Perinatal Association design meetings. From those visits came a plan to provide the best care for babies, privacy for families and calm for everyone in the NICU.
UT Medical Center is one of two hospitals in Tennessee with individual NICU rooms and one of a handful nationwide. Secluded in a cove with 10 to 12 rooms, triangular-shaped nurses’ stations tucked between two rooms have windows for looking in on each infant. Monitors, ventilators and “smart” intravenous (IV) pumps, purchased with a federal grant, instantaneously pour data to the medical staff.
Rooms have sound-absorbent floors and paint, highly sensitive temperature controls, improved airflow and “light showers” that spotlight a nurse reading a medical chart, not the baby. “Smart” beds keep temperatures constant so the babies do not have to be moved.
 Care of critically ill babies and their families is guided by the medical center’s High Risk Regional Perinatal Program. The Tennessee Department of Health provides funding to help treat the approximately 450 mothers from within 100 miles of Knoxville who come annually to the perinatal unit. Their conditions range from diabetes or lupus to increased risk for birth defects, pre-term labor and pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure and swelling).
Mothers are seen immediately on arrival at the medical center by one of seven perinatalogists. However, care for mothers and infants may continue long after they go home, says C. David Adair, MD, a perinatologist, director of maternal-fetal medicine and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UT Graduate School of Medicine.
If the baby is in trouble upon delivery, neonatology specialists are just seconds away. “There is no moving the sick baby, no taking it through tunnels or from one hospital to another,” says Janell Cecil, RN, MSN, vice president of the Center for Women & Children’s Health. “That is a benefit of being the only state designated perinatal center in Knoxville.”
When a child is born with a genetic condition, care may continue through adulthood. A clinical geneticist and a neonatologist help parents manage gene-related medical and developmental problems and help them connect with community resources. 
UT Medical Center has offered a comprehensive neonatal program since 1974 and is one of five centers in the Tennessee Perinatal Regionalization Network.
“We have a level-three nursery, three pediatric surgeons and other specialists, including social workers, case workers and genetic counselors,” says Mark D. Hennessy, MD, perinatologist and assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the medical center. Outreach programs for patients, doctors and nurses and weekly consultations are offered in outlying areas.
A team of perinatologists, neonatologists, 150 nurses and 12 respiratory specialists stands ready to provide a welcoming environment to 800 tiny, very special patients who are expected to come to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in 2007.
To request an appointment, call toll free 1.877.UT.CARES (1.877.882.2737) Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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