LEHI, UT (June 3, 2025) – Babies who need care in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Holy Cross Hospital – Mountain Point (HCM) now have access to neonatologists from the University of Utah 24 hours a day, seven days a week thanks to a new Tele-NICU arrangement between the two facilities.
“With this capability, we are able to care for sicker babies and babies born more prematurely,” said Jennifer Jellerson, Chief Nursing Officer at Holy Cross Hospital - Mountain Point. “This is good for the whole family. It avoids babies having to be transferred to other facilities and keeps moms and babies together here in our community.”
HCM is the fourth Utah hospital benefitting from the University of Utah Tele-NICU program. A special secure telemedicine unit in the NICU allows a nurse or pediatrician at HCM to instantly contact a neonatologist at the University of Utah. The neonatologist is able to monitor the baby’s vital signs real-time and view the baby through a high-resolution camera.
The University of Utah has 29 board-certified neonatologists who have been credentialed to practice at Mountain Point. Bobbie Carlisle, Tele-NICU director at the University of Utah, has held several training sessions at HCM to familiarize nursing and respiratory therapy staff on use of the tele-medicine equipment. HCM staff will also spend time working at the University of Utah NICU for advanced training in caring for more complex babies.
Whenever a Tele-NICU consultation is initiated, the flight team is alerted in the event that a baby needs to be transferred to a higher-level NICU.
“We deliver a lot of babies at Mountain Point, and this added level of expertise here will provide additional peace of mind for our laboring mothers, knowing that if there are complications or the baby comes early, mom and baby are in good hands and will receive highly skilled, excellent care,” Jellerson said.
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