Specialist Care Nursery opens in the Great Southern
Left to right: Staff Development Nurse Joanne Orr, Acting Clinical Nurse Midwife Caroline Preston, Minister for Health Meredith Hammat, Acting Clinical Nurse Midwife Judy Haffner, Hon. Samantha Rowe MLC
More Great Southern families with babies born preterm will be able to stay closer to home, with a new Specialist Care Nursery now operational at Albany Health Campus.
The Level 2A Specialist Care Nursery is part of a $4.1 million Cook Labor Government commitment to care for babies that would have otherwise been transported to Perth after their birth.
The new nursery has doubled capacity to four beds and is equipped to care for babies born from 34 weeks, as well as newborns with complex health issues.
The nursery will also allow for an earlier repatriation of preterm babies that require initial care in Perth, bringing them home sooner.
"More than 550 babies are born at Albany Health Campus every year, but until now preterm babies born before 37 weeks gestation needed to be transferred to Perth for treatment in those fragile early days and weeks,” said WA Country Health Service Acting Executive Director Great Southern. Jacinta Herbert.
"This Specialist Care Nursery means more families can stay closer to home and their support networks while their babies receive the care they need.”
Albany Health Campus' workforce has also been bolstered, with additional registered nurses working alongside the midwives and paediatricians who staff the nursery.
"The State Government is committed to ensuring every Western Australian can access high quality healthcare, no matter where they live."