NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Jill E. McCormick, Director, Marketing & Planning
St. Edward Mercy Health System
Phone: 479-314-6037
Email: jill.mccormick@mercy.net

St. Edward Mercy Hosts Successful NICU Reunion

Fort Smith, Ark. – April 21, 2009 –St. Edward Mercy Medical Center hosted its first-ever Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Reunion from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 18 at Creekmore Park Community Center.

Over 300 former NICU patients and their families attended this event. Activities included face painting, “bounce arounds” donated by Kids Play Rental in Van Buren, a special appearance by Daphne the Clown, food donated by McDonald’s, and ice cream donated by Yarnell’s Premium Ice Cream. Each family also received a goodie bag for attending.

The St. Edward Mercy Medical Center launched the NICU in November 2006 when it hired

Dr. Victor Coloso. Prior to arriving at St. Edward Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Coloso was in private practice in Martin County and Palm Beach, Florida. He completed his pediatrics residency at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey, and his neonatology fellowship at the University of Miami at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

In September 2008, St. Edward Mercy added a NICU Transport in order to transfer infants requiring the services that only a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit can provide, from other facilities to the St. Edward Mercy Medical Center NICU.

The St. Edward Mercy NICU serves infants born at 26 weeks of gestation and later. The NICU nursery has a 25-isolette capacity and has served over 850 infants and their families since the nursery opened. The St. Edward Mercy Medical Center offers the only Level III NICU in the region.