KELOWNA — A new facility will be opening soon to help the Okanagan’s youngest and smallest residents.
As part of expansion at Kelowna General Hospital, the current neonatal intensive care unit is being replaced.
It’s welcome news for parents who have faced the long hospital stays often associated with premature babies.
Brianna Kirschner agrees. Her 13-month-old son Gabriel was born ten weeks early and was in the unit for two months.
“We were joking the babies were almost in bunk beds because there was just so many babies that needed the space,” says Kirschner.
Mark Thomsen and his wife had to travel to Vancouver when their son Ryan was born at just 25 weeks gestation.
He’s hoping the new facility will mean more Okanagan families will be able to stay closer to home.
“Oh it’s great for the community,” says Thomsen. “If someone goes through what we did or something different the potential for them to stay here is greater. Closer to their family, closer to their friends.”
The new neo-natal intensive care unit and the perinatal wing of the hospital will open on March 6.
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