Lutheran’s smallest patients, kept in the best hands
Starting July 1, CPMG Neonatology began covering Lutheran’s NICU, ensuring seamless access to the highest-quality care after the departure of Children’s Hospital.
This is a longterm partnership. The practice now provides care for all NICU patients, both Kaiser and private practice, at all four Intermountain Peaks Front Range hospitals.
“By keeping all babies in our system, we can elevate the coordination of care for moms and babies, ensuring appropriate transfers, if needed, and returning them to their home hospitals as quickly and safely as possible,” said Ann Ryan, MD, medical director for CPMG Neonatology.
In the previous partnership with Children’s, babies with high-acuity needs, such as those born before 28 weeks or those who needed surgical intervention, were transferred to Children’s. In a typical year, 12 to 20 Lutheran babies were transferred out of the system.
Now, those babies are transferred to Saint Joseph. Since the partnership with CPMG Neonatology launched July 1, Saint Joseph has received four babies from Lutheran’s NICU. There are numerous patient-care benefits to this new arrangement, including:
The care team remains the same. Parents can rely on the physicians and NNPs they already know and trust to provide the highest-quality, evidence-based medicine that’s well known across the region and now standard across all Front Range sites.
Babies can now be transferred back to Lutheran as soon as their acuity needs match the capabilities of Lutheran’s NICU. This reduces the burden on parents struggling to spend as much time as they can with their babies.
Pregnant moms whose babies will need high-acuity NICU care can be transferred to Saint Joseph for delivery, giving both mom and baby immediate access to the level of care each needs, while keeping them together.
“The goal is always to transfer the pregnant mom to Saint Joseph for the safest delivery and immediate placement of her baby into the NICU her baby needs,” said Ryan. “But if she’s a Lutheran patient who lives on the west side of town, we’ll transfer her baby to Lutheran’s NICU as soon as we safely can.
“Lutheran has a great NICU and a fantastic team,” Ryan continued. “They’ve been so warm and welcoming to us, and we’re delighted to be here.”
Physicians with questions about the partnership with CPMG or neonatology care at Lutheran can contact Ryan at ann.ryan@imail2.org.