ST. GEORGE – Last November Dixie Regional Medical Center treated one of its smallest patients to date. Korbyn Taylor Melling, son of Clint and Laura Melling, was born 13 weeks early and weighed less than one pound. The hospital’s newborn intensive care unit became Korbyn’s home for the first 126 days of his life. Today he is a strong, healthy baby.
Dixie Regional recently completed an expansion to better serve infants like Korbyn. On April 19, the hospital will celebrate these improvements with a ribbon-cutting, short program, tour and open house. The public is invited to attend from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The NICU is on the 400 East Campus at 544 S. 400 East. Attendees may park and enter through the labor and delivery entry on the west.
“We will be highlighting all the remodeled areas and showcasing the great help that the expanded area will provide the community,” said Amy Christensen, director of women and children’s services.
The 2011 Jubilee of Trees raised more than $700,000 to expand the NICU and remodel the Jubilee Home — a place where families can stay while their loved ones are receiving care at the hospital. Korbyn’s parents stayed in the Jubilee Home I and expressed their gratitude for being able to be close to their son during a difficult time.
“We’re thankful beyond words for the Jubilee Home,” said Laura Melling, Korbyn’s mother. “Korbyn is healthy and happy
because of the compassionate service the home provided us, and the outstanding care given to our newborn.”
Expansion includes a newly designed nursery built “ballroom style” with mother’s rooms having direct access.
“This environment has something magical about it,” said Jeanette Cutner, NICU manager. “When people enter the nursery they all speak in hushed tones like it’s a library.”
The layout of the newly remodeled space was built with the life stages of a woman in mind.
“Amy saw the vision of how we treat and care for our patients,” Cutner said. “There is a natural flow of the services we provide, beginning with maternal fetal medicine and the Southwest Fertility Center on the third floor.”
Another highlight is the water hydrotherapy suite, which allows women to have a natural delivery in a spa-like atmosphere. It’s an environment of relaxation with muted lighting, aromatherapy and natural plants. The hydrotherapy birthing suite is staffed with nurses trained specifically in natural birthing.
“It’s personal one on one nursing care where nurses have been trained to provide comfort measures without the use of medications,” Cutner said.
Also new to labor and delivery services is an obstetrics hospitalist program. Dixie is one of the only two hospitals in Utah who offer this service. An OB hospitalist is a physician specialist who cares for patients hospitalized or having a pregnancy-related emergency. Sleeping rooms were added for these specialists to be in house round the clock for the safety of moms and babies.
For more information about the open house, please call (435) 251-2488.