San Juan Regional Medical Center offers care for higher acuity newborns in our Childbirth Center thanks to a telehealth partnership with Presbyterian Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) team.
An Amwell telemedicine cart, graciously donated by the San Juan Medical Foundation, provides state-of-the-art video conferencing technology. This allows us to keep newborns who require a higher level of care in our Level II Special Care Nursery instead of transferring them to another facility. Babies get the benefit of staying with their parents close to home, with Presbyterian’s specialists available 24/7 with the click of a button.
“Having this technology at San Juan Regional Medical Center is a huge win for our community,” said pediatrician Dr. Bradley Scoggins. “Through the Amwell cart, we have direct, immediate access to Presbyterian’s NICU team to work together in the best interests of the infants entrusted in our care.”
Benefits of this advanced technology here at San Juan Regional Medical Center include:
- Allowing families to stay here at home while their newborns get the specialty care they need
- Reducing travel time for parents and families
- Cutting down on costs and stress
- Improving timely access to neonatology expertise so newborns can receive additional medical care, address health challenges, and reduce the odds of transfer
- Increases opportunities for nearby family support
For Presbyterian's team, video-based telehealth enables neonatologists to comfortably see the baby and speak with the care teams on-site, providing specialized care from miles away.
“Within the city of Albuquerque, there're three large NICUs, but then that's about it, and the state is very big," Presbyterian’s Dr. Michael Rankin said. "For us to be able to participate in the care of babies born at outlying hospitals, telemedicine's been really valuable for us.”
Dr. Scoggins agreed, adding, “If neonatologists can literally be at the bedside with the telemedicine piece, I think that helps our staff feel a lot better about the quality and type of care we're able to provide these higher acuity babies.”
San Juan Regional Medical Center’s Level II Special Care Nursery is a five-bed nursery with specialty trained nurses. While infants are in our Special Care Nursery, we provide onsite boarding services to parents and access to hotels, food and shopping for families. To learn more about our Childbirth Center services, visit https://www.sanjuanregional.com/ourservices/childbirth-center.