$2.5 grant from Kosair will strengthen Med Center Health’s infant caregiving

Med Center Health’s recently opened High Street Tower has been a boon for infant care in the region, and the announcement Monday that Kosair for Kids has awarded a $2.5 million grant to Med Center Health to support an infant and child safety program will go a long way to ensure that newborns in southcentral Kentucky are ready for the world.

The grant represents the largest gift given by Kosair this year, and will support a Womb to World Infant and Child Safety Program, providing technology for the hospital, training for Med Center Health employees and educational resources for parents.

Med Center Health executive vice president David Gray described the grant as a “game-changer” for southcentral Kentucky, and the scope of what will be funded is impressive.

Simulator labs funded through the grant will provide crucial training for employees at the High Street Tower and for practitioners in the region who work in infant care, training them on a wide range of scenarios focused on the treatment and care of newborns.

A portion of the funds will also go toward isolettes, enclosed incubators designed to keep premature or critically ill newborns warm and protected while in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

“This grant is going to allow Med Center Health to have the best of the best when it comes to medical equipment to take care of fragile newborns,” said Barry Dunn, president and CEO of Kosair for Kids. “The training that’s going to be possible through this grant is going to allow our nurses, doctors and respiratory therapists to be prepared to be able to react … as soon as that newborn needs help, they’re going to be able to immediately implement the steps they’ve learned in training, whether it’s to save a newborn’s life or whether it’s simply to make sure a newborn is resting as comfortably as possible during some pretty challenging times.”

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The money from Kosair will also support education services for families of newborns, covering prenatal care and steps to prevent child abuse and neglect as families transition home.

Speaking Monday at the High Street Tower for the grant announcement event, Gray reminded people that there are areas of the state where people have to drive at least an hour to access obstetrical services.

This funding from Kosair ensures that Med Center Health will be strongly positioned as the region’s preeminent source for infant health care and family education.