Wasie NICU at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Receives Level IV Designation to Care for Region's Most Critically Ill Newborns

The Wasie Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital continues to offer the highest level of neonatal care and is now designated as a Level IV NICU in Florida, and the only Level IV in Broward County.

“It is our privilege to protect, guide and work with the region’s most fragile newborns and continue to do so as we add an even greater range of services and support,” said Dr. Cherie Foster, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Chief of Neonatology. “All Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital’s NICUs ensure moms and their babies heal together, while receiving world-class pediatric care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

All three Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital NICUs offer highly specialized care to infants born prematurely or in distress. Equipped to deliver immediate onsite care, the NICUs are strategically adjacent to all three Memorial Family Birthplace locations at Memorial Regional Hospital, Memorial Hospital West, and Memorial Hospital Miramar, respectively.

The multidisciplinary teams at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and Memorial Healthcare System provide complex and compassionate care to over 1,000 neonates each year, receiving newborns from neighboring hospitals within the South Florida community, and internationally. With 84 beds at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, and 36 beds located throughout the system, the three NICUs have become trusted sources for high-level acute care, supplying love, comfort, and superior services to its littlest patients and their families. Utilizing expert physicians, clinicians and state-of-the art technology, the goal is to help each newborn achieve their full health potential.

According to Florida state statute, Level IV NICU services must meet the staffing and personnel, equipment and service standards required of Level III NICUs in addition to the following services: Anesthesiology, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Hematology-oncology, Infectious Disease, Maternal-fetal medicine for women with high-risk pregnancies, Nephrology, Neurology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Otolaryngology, Palliative care, Pulmonology, Radiology and Urology.

“No matter where a baby is delivered in South Florida, whether a Memorial Healthcare System Family Birthplace location or another hospital in the region, a newborn who needs acute care will receive it at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital,” said Dr. Foster.