Liberty Hospital recently expanded its affiliation with Children’s Mercy to include well-baby services. Providers from Children’s Mercy will provide comprehensive care to well newborns who are not assigned to a pediatrician at the time of birth.
“The Children’s Mercy Division of Neonatology currently provides neonatal care to the preterm and ill newborns at Liberty Hospital, and we look forward to expanding this collaboration with provision of well-baby services,” said Steven Olsen, MD, Children’s Mercy Division Director-Neonatology.
Newborns will receive routine medical care from Children’s Mercy providers, as well as care management to include placement with a primary care provider for post-discharge well-child care.
“Having nurse practitioners for well-baby services at Liberty Hospital will strengthen our collaboration as we continue to provide excellent care for our mothers and babies in the Northland,” said Nicolette Koelling, BSN, RN, Director of The Birthing Center.
In addition to finding providers and arranging appointments for babies at discharge, well-baby services include examinations, medical management and family education.
“A huge part of providing well-baby services is teaching families how to care for babies,” said Martha Goodwin, MSN, RN, NNP-BC, Children’s Mercy Director-Neonatal Nurse Practitioners. “Hospital stays are short for well babies, so families—whether it’s their first baby or not—don’t have a lot of time to figure things out, so we provide a lot of education to ease the transition out of the hospital to home.”
