NICU Telehealth Services Added at Monticello Birthing Center

(KNSI) – Telehealth services are now available at the CentraCare – Monticello Birth Center.

It is the fourth location to get 24/7 access to experts at St. Cloud Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The specialized software uses an Apple iPad to set up a video connection to support infants in serious and critical condition.

The goal is to be able to stabilize them while keeping them closer to home, something that is easier on the babies’ families. Another benefit is if the baby has to be transported to St. Cloud Hospital, it can be monitored in real-time by staff along the way.

Nurse Jenna Buganski says, “Before NICU telehealth services, we would have to do a phone consult and try to describe what’s going on, and just wait for them to arrive at the birth center to transport them to St. Cloud. Now, they can talk us through needed steps after seeing the baby.”

The goal is to expand the service by two regional birth centers per year and eventually to other healthcare providers in the state. It was developed by CentraCare, and Clinical Educator for Virtual Health Mollie Greener says, “We built it ourselves, it’s our own program, it’s our own technology, there’s 24/7 support for the technology, and we specialized it to be what we need it to be.”

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