Neonatal Unit Registered Nurse Tammy Thompson, Clayton Mace, Kirsty Fisher and Neonatal Nurse Unit Manager Wendy Carlish
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Six months after undergoing a significant refurbishment, Toowoomba Hospital’s Neonatal Unit is continuing to provide high-quality care for some of our region’s newest residents.
Kirsty Fisher and Clayton Mace welcomed twins Olivia and Jasper almost five weeks early on Tuesday, 23 January. The twins, needing some extra care before going home, have spent some time in the refurbished Neonatal Unit.
“It’s lovely, there’s a lot of room, you’re not on top of everyone and you have privacy, but the staff are right there if you need them,” Ms Fisher said.
“What I like is when you come to the unit, it doesn’t matter if you were here an hour or three hours earlier, whoever’s looking after the babies will tell you everything that’s going on, they’re very informative. The refurbished space is great”
Clayton Mace
Neonatal Nurse Unit Manager, Wendy Carlish said the refurbishment has increased the level of functionality in the space.
“We’ve moved the busy staff area from the middle of the unit to the back, this has enabled us to create better patient spaces.
“The updated paint work has also changed the atmosphere of the unit. We used to have a lot of dark colours in the unit, now it’s full of light colours, making it feel more open and welcoming.
“The refurbishment has also had a positive impact on neonatal staff, they’re very happy with change to the flow of the space.
“We’ve got 12 bed spaces in the unit and babies can often stay for up to two months depending on their needs.
“We’ve had instances where parents had their children before the refurbishment and they returned to the unit with another child sometime later and were amazed by the refurbishment,” Ms Carlish said.
The refurbishment was generously funded by the Toowoomba Hospital Foundation through their 2022 Toowoomba Hospital Christmas Appeal.