Grandparents’ gratitude attracts business support for FMC’s Special Care Nursery
Rosie was born on August 19, 2019. Three months premature, she weighed less than two-and-a-half pounds and her lungs were severely underdeveloped. The first 99 days of Rosie’s fragile young life were spent in the Special Care Nursery (SCN). Nearly all of the 60 or so nurses, doctors, neonatal nurse practitioners, developmental specialists and nursery techs became her extended family. First-time parents Janea and Austin Byrne settled in for what became a very extended stay at the hospital. Rosie’s grandparents, Terry and Lana Laudick of Albuquerque, became regular guests there as well. In fact, the retired couple sold their home and moved to Flagstaff to be near and offer support to their daughter, son-in-law and new granddaughter.
“We had a couple of experiences that were very traumatic,” said Terry Laudick, as he painfully recalled tense, terrifying moments when Rosie’s oxygen level dropped.
Amidst the buzzing and beeping of breathing machines and heartrate monitors, tiny Rosie fought for her life as healthcare professionals treated her, fed her through a feeding tube and watched her around the clock. “There were alarms constantly going off, not only for Rosie but for other infants suffering challenges, and the staff would race over. They provided ongoing observation and the medical treatment was just phenomenal.”
“Rosie had a complicated admission,” said SCN Clinical Manager Jeanne Wiles. “She was put in an incubator and on a ventilator right away. She was quite sick, but such a strong little fighter.”
Through seemingly endless days of worry, Laudick was amazed at the attention and support the families of the newborns received. “It really was the staff that took the time to sit down with us, meditate, pray, hold hands.”
FMC’s Special Care Nursery is a Level 3 Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), licensed to treat premature babies born at 28 weeks and up. Typically the SCN averages between 10 to 15 babies at a time, often for conditions associated with prematurity, infection, respiratory distress or feeding issues.
“Some of these babies have complicated deliveries requiring very specialized care in our unit,” said Wiles. Many of these are babies that are really sick and require a lot of care. Each baby’s length of stay is different, but many are discharged close to their expected delivery date. Rosie’s stay of 99 days is not the norm.”
Laudick is quite familiar with the specialized needs of sick children and their families. As retired CEO of Nusenda Credit Union in Albuquerque, he led multiple fundraising efforts during his career to support the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN), a non-profit organization that raises money for children’s hospitals and a national focal point of credit union philanthropic efforts. When he experienced the “outstanding” medical care that Rosie received, he understood even more deeply the critical impact children’s hospitals have on the lives of newborns. To express his family’s extreme gratitude to Northern Arizona Healthcare, Laudick donated $25,000 to support the Special Care Nursery, which does not qualify for funds through CMN. His goal is to raise $100,000, and he’s volunteered to help the Office of Philanthropy attract the funds.
Phoenix-based Desert Financial Credit Union answered his call with $15,000.“We are super excited to be able to do it,” said Desert Financial Assistant Vice President of Community Relations and Engagement Emma Garcia. “It aligns well with our other efforts.”
Garcia says Desert Financial focused on supporting crisis services through the pandemic and had donated a significant delivery of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to FMC. “We knew Northern Arizona was an area hard hit by COVID-19, experiencing a larger number of people in the emergency department (ED), more than any other in the state at times.”
The credit union, which is opening a Flagstaff branch this summer, also is participating in the hospital’s Grateful Patient program by hosting a lunch for the FMC ED staff. “The NAH Office of Philanthropy’s Grateful Patient program gives the communities we serve many ways to show their gratitude for the compassionate care we provide,” said NAH Vice President of Philanthropy Maraka Oltrogge. “The donations we receive from businesses and individuals are important in providing resources to support all aspects of NAH. We appreciate donors like the Laudicks, who allow for us to provide invaluable facility and program improvements for the hospital.”
Allied Solutions, which provides products and services to credit unions nationwide and is a major contributor to CMN, also responded to Laudick’s request with $10,000. So far, business and individual gifts have totaled more than $50,000 to support the hospital’s smallest patients.
“A number of other CEOs individually stepped up without hesitancy and I am very appreciative,” said Laudick. “It wasn’t about servicing our needs, it was about giving back. We wanted to support the Special Care Nursery and add more care pods for the staff and families.”
“Our unit is entirely grateful for such generous donations,” said Wiles. “Every penny matters.”
These pennies matter particularly to Rosie’s family, as the Special Care Nursery plans to use the funds to help other families with sick babies. “The size of the gift is fantastic. It is allowing us to create Rosie’s Room. It will be an isolation room that can be used by families who have a parent or infant with a respiratory or other infectious illness,” she said. “Our NICU is set up as an open bay, so anyone who is contagious can’t be in the unit. In Rosie’s Room, a parent can stay with their baby. The goal is to make the room a much more nurse-patient-family friendly space that allows us to provide the same level of care in a private space.”
“Gratitude is a significant component of the care experience at Northern Arizona Healthcare,” said NAH Chief Philanthropy Officer Larry Kushner. “We often find patients and family members of loved ones express their gratitude to our healthcare professionals who provided life-saving care, especially in traumatic situations. This expression can manifest itself in better equipment, programmatic needs or facilities. By honoring Rosie and her caregivers with Rosie’s Room, the Laudick family, their friends and associates will know that their gift will be helping others.”
“I know I speak for my entire family and fellow NICU parents when I say that we wake up every day thankful for the people who make up the Special Care Nursery,” said Rosie’s mom, Janea. “It takes some incredibly special people to do the work they do, and they are our superheroes. Their love and support stretched far beyond those 99 days and we are so lucky to have lifelong relationships as a result. Flagstaff’s Special Care Nursery is truly one of a kind.”
Rosie continues to require long-term medical care, including oxygen assistance overnight; however, her grandfather reports she is doing quite well in her overall development.
Rosie also is thrilled with her new role as big sister. Janea and Austin welcomed their second child, Lacey Jo, on May 19. Both mom and baby are home, healthy and doing well. FBN
By Bonnie Steven