ORLANDO, Fla. – The Hospital for Women in Orlando, Florida is expanding its neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

The hospital is expanding their space for the neonatal unit, escalating it to two more floors. This is to cater to the increasing number of infants who require immediate emergency care. The new floors will officially welcome patients starting next week.

The Vice President for Operations of the hospital, Deborah Spielman, said that the new levels intended for the neonatal intensive care unit are technically built for newborn babies who are born with severe illnesses or prematurity and entail surgical intervention.

The new floors are intended to hold 82 babies at once. The NICU also provides an additional 21 beds for mothers who just gave birth.

The required average number of beds that a NICU must hold is 85 beds; it grew rapidly from 60 beds a few years back. With the additional 21 beds in the new levels, Florida hospital’s NICU now owns 102 beds in total.

Vice President Spielman stated that the hospital is eyeing to make all floors of the women hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit capable of giving the highest level of care. As of the moment, only two floors out of three floors hold the highest level of equipment.

The hospital expansion will also allow more job opportunities for nurses and physicians. The demand for registered nurses has escalated and nurses for NICU are difficult to find.

The hospital does employ nurses from nearby colleges such as Valencia College and University of Central Florida, however, it is still not enough. The final outcome is usually to resort to hiring nurses through staffing agencies and sourcing practitioners from other states, Vice President Spielman said.

The whole expansion includes a private room for nursing mothers and a lactation room. Additional lounge rooms and simulation rooms are also expected.