New NICU Renovations Under Way for Omaha Children’s Hospital

Neonatal intensive care unit renovations are nearly complete at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, Neb. The new design by LEO A DALY will increase family privacy, provide more caregiver space in the patient rooms and streamline communication for staff. All phases of the NICU renovations will be completed this fall.

LEO A DALY is also working in association with Kurt Salmon Associates on the master plan for a future expansion of the Children’s Hospital campus.

“Our new relationship with Children’s has allowed us to mesh our skills with the client’s needs, creating trust for working together in the years ahead,” says Jeff Monzu, vice president in LEO A DALY’s Omaha office.

Calling on previous experience with designing and renovating healthcare facilities for women, children and families, LEO A DALY brought innovative approaches to phasing the design and construction work—plus creative ideas for saving the client money.

To minimize the cost of the project, the design team kept the existing headwall layouts and designed around the basic infrastructure. Nurse work areas were relocated and grouped around a central support core that streamlines communication and still provides proximity to patient rooms.

The NICU interior design honors the original children-centered “bugs and insects” theme, but adds bright color accents to create distinction between rooms. Green and purple tones replace muted pastels to evoke a more positive, healing energy for worried parents.

While the main function of the NICU has been to provide 24-hour care and supervision for infants born at OB-GYN units—either within Methodist or at other regional medical facilities—the renovated NICU now will support Children’s new in-house program for high-risk deliveries, as well as other post-surgical and special-need patients. A Fetal Care Center now under construction will include a delivery operating room, an infant resuscitation room and a recovery area for mothers.

The NICU operates on two floors in a space currently leased from Methodist Hospital, which is joined by a skywalk to Children’s Hospital.