Vision 2010

Interior Rendering of New NICU Lobby

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Ranked first among children’s hospitals in the Midwest and fourth overall in the U.S. according to U.S. News & World Report, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital has provided the best pediatric care to generations of children. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Rainbow is where the world’s most specialized pediatric care meets the most serious health challenges. Today, Rainbow’s NICU serves a 12-county area in Northeast Ohio with a pediatric population of nearly one million. The newly renovated, 38-bed NICU will link on the same floor to a 44-bed neonatal transitional unit, just steps away from the delivery rooms at MacDonald Women’s Hospital. These improvements will ensure that Rainbow’s NICU remains at the forefront of pediatric care and research.

Current statistics

• The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland is widely regarded as an international leader in the treatment of critically ill babies and extremely low-birth weight babies.


• The level III unit is designated by the National Institutes of Health as a Neonatal Research Center.


• Rainbow neonatologists have authored numerous medical textbooks and directed studies leading the country, and indeed the world, in research and clinical care of high-risk and low-birth weight babies.


• A team of Rainbow’s 22 NICU doctors and six neonatology fellows plays a nationally recognized leadership role in neonatal patient care, teaching and research.


• The survival rates for high-risk newborns are the best in the nation.

Why the need for a new NICU?

• Rainbow’s NICU serves a 12-county area in Northeastern Ohio with a pediatric population of nearly one million. The current NICU was once a revolutionary facility, but new facilities are now needed to keep the NICU at the leading edge. The last major renovation occurred over 16 years ago.


• If we are to maintain a leadership role at the forefront of research and advanced technology for the care of newborns, we must create a facility that can support and expand these efforts.


• The new NICU will bring together advanced technology, research and operative services in a home-like environment for newborns and their families.

Renovation plans

• The new 38-bed NICU incorporates patient rooms with space for parents at the bedside of every infant and offering more privacy for families.


• Offer more diagnostic capabilities within the unit, so that babies do not have to be moved around the hospital for tests and procedures. The new NICU will include a surgical suite and imaging capabilities to enhance the safety and stability for these babies in the course of their care.


• Utilize the most advanced technology while recreating the sheltered environment of the womb. State-of-the-art monitoring systems will instantly alert caregivers to changes in the baby’s condition. Variable lighting will be installed that changes as the baby’s condition changes, and each room will offer acoustic features and individually adjustable lights.


• Provide for ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) treatment without transporting the baby. Rainbow’s NICU admits approximately 1,000 newborns annually and also serves as the ECMO referral center for Northeastern Ohio.