The Charles A. Mastronardi Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at White Plains Hospital offers state-of-the-art technology, expert nursing care, and many support services for babies and their families. Accredited at Level III, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is one of the most advanced units in the region, attracting families from beyond Westchester County – including Rockland, Orange, Dutchess and Fairfield Counties, and New York City.
Services in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit include advanced monitoring, physical therapy, respiratory and nutritional support and radiological services for infants who are extremely premature or need specialized medical or surgical care at birth. When necessary, tertiary neonatal care services are available through an affiliation with New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.
Special lighting in the unit simulates day and night with the twinkling of fiber-optic stars on the ceiling. The lighting is one of several developmental care programs designed by the NICU staff to nurture premature and sick newborns during their stay in intensive care.
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is staffed by a team of 40 professional registered nurses who specialize in neonatal care. The high number of nurses keeps the patient-to-nurse ratio low, and there is often one nurse on staff for every baby in the NICU. The nurses work closely with a team of six board-certified neonatologists who attend all high-risk births.
Families of NICU babies form lifelong relationships with the unit’s nurses and doctors, and can participate in the Neonatal Parents Network, which provides ongoing support and education for parents whose babies have “graduated” from the unit.
Meet Jesus Jaile-Marti, MD, Chief of Neonatalogy