Board-certified neonatologists lead a critical care team that provides the highest level of neonatal care as designated by the state of North Carolina. The newborn intensive care team at The Children's Hospital is the primary referral center for babies born anywhere in the region. From the tiniest premature newborns to infants with complicated heart disease, the team provides a full range of critical, life saving services. The intensive care team consists of residents, staff nurses, neonatal nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, ECMO specialists, respiratory care practitioners, social workers, dietitians, case managers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and lactation specialists.

Conditions diagnosed or treated include:

• Extreme prematurity
• Congenital heart disease
• Genetic disorders
• Severe respiratory failure
• Congenital bowel disorders
• Neurologic diseases of the newborn
• Perinatal infectious diseases
• Heart/Lung Bypass - ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation)

Physicians:

Michelle Chiu, MD
Paul Engstrom, MD
David Fisher, MD - Director of Neonatology
Drew Herman, MD
Docia Hickey, MD
Thomas Kueser, MD
Karen Lessaris, MD
Timothy Mitchell, DO
Patricia Neal, MD    
Thomas A. Payne, MD
Mary Anne Rathbun, MD 
Carmen L. Villaveces, MD

Why Levine Children's Hospital?

• A specially trained Neonatal Transport team is prepared to transport the most critically ill infants in the region.
• Our 85-bed Neonatal Intensive Care and Progressive Care unit treats over 1000 babies a year.
• No other nursery in the region provides a higher level of care or has the specialized services available to treat the most complicated and severe illnesses in the newborn period.
• We performed the first pediatric ECMO (heart-lung bypass) procedure in the region more than 17 years ago.
• Neonatologists provide high quality care to infants before and after delicate cardiac surgery.