The other day I got a press release about a renovation at Columbia St. Mary's, which, admittedly, doesn't usually fall into my areas of interest or expertise here at OnMilwaukee.com.
But, I had the displeasure of spending a few days at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the hospital a few years ago. I says displeasure not as a reflection on the hospital. It's just automatically displeasurable to be in the NICU, unless, perhaps, you work there.
Families are hurting when their newborns have to spend any time at all in an isolette. The reasons are plentiful and obvious. Add in that they must tend to their stress and emotional strain with very little privacy and it doesn't make it any easier.
So, when I saw the press release and the photos of CSM's newly opened Doerr Family Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), it struck a chord.
The new $3.5 million Doerr Family NICU is the first all-private room NICU in southeastern Wisconsin.
"This new model of care is proven to improve health and reduce the number of days spent in the hospital for premature infants, all while increasing family satisfaction," said Dr. John Wolf, neonatologist and medical director of the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Milwaukee, in the release.
"The all-private room NICU will reduce the risk of infection, reduce stress through noise and light control and provide more privacy for patients and their families."
The reduced risk of infection is big for the infant. The chance to have a little alone time – despite the darned isolette – with their newborn baby will be indescribably important to the parents.
This is one improvement I hope all hospitals can someday offer to every family that has the displeasure of spending time in a NICU.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
