Hospital partnership expands to include special care nursery

Some mothers, babies need extra care close to home

The Mercy Health — Lorain and Akron Children’s Hospital partnership that began in 2020 continues to grow.

Effective Nov. 9, Akron Children’s will begin managing operations of the Mercy Health — Lorain Hospital special care nursery, according to a news release.

Akron Children’s pediatric hospitalists — physicians who specialize in caring for hospitalized patients — will staff the sixbed unit 24 hours a day, the release said.

“A special care nursery is for babies born prematurely — at or greater than 32 weeks’ gestation — who may have additional health issues that are not serious enough to require a neonatal intensive care unit,” explained Michael McCabe, M.D., Akron Children’s pediatric hospitalist. “Our partnership with Mercy Health — Lorain raises the level of care for mothers and their babies, while providing close-to-home convenience for families.

“We look forward to caring for these Special Care Nursery babies and helping them get off to a healthy start.”

Mercy Health — Lorain Hospital is the only Level II special care nursery in Lorain County.

“Mercy Health — Lorain has long been known for patient-centered care, and this extension of our partnership with Akron Children’s Hospital is being made with our newborns and their families in mind,” said Ed Oley, market president of Mercy Health — Lorain. “We want to make them feel welcome while also offering highlyskilled staff who can ensure the best possible care is available for our tiniest patients.

“We look forward to advancing neonatal care to the next level for our region.”

In August 2020, Akron Children’s and Mercy Health — Lorain announced a partnership to bring Akron Children’s pediatric health care services to Lorain County.

Akron Children’s currently provides pediatric primary care in Lorain, Amherst and Oberlin — and specialty services in Amherst.

The Akron Children’s Lorain and Amherst offices will relocate to a new outpatient health center in December, according to the release.

The building is located at 47185 Cooper Foster Road in Amherst.

Mercy Health — Lorain and Akron Children’s Hospital are dedicated to improving child health by offering families greater access to high-quality, cost-effective pediatric care, the release said.

The organizations will continue to collaborate to further Mercy Health — Lorain’s focus on delivering high-quality, compassionate and expert care from birth through adulthood, according to the release.