Health Professional News, Press Releases

Children’s Minnesota NICU at Mercy Hospital marks two-plus years of preventing central line associated blood stream infections

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (Jan. 26, 2024) – Children’s Minnesota is thrilled to announce The Kid Experts® at its Level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, Minnesota surpassed more than 1,000 days without a central line associated blood stream infection (CLABSI). A CLABSI can be life threatening for premature babies and critically ill newborns in the NICU who require a central line, a thin tube inserted into a large vein that goes to the heart.

The achievement is the culmination of exhaustive collaboration between both clinical and non-clinical NICU team members that include providers, bedside staff, environmental services and clinical support associates. Patient safety and infection prevention experts at Children’s Minnesota also work closely with the NICU staff to provide updated policies and procedures designed to protect all of the pediatric health system’s patients from CLABSIs.

The NICU at Mercy Hospital is part of The Mother Baby Center, a partnership between Allina Health and Children’s Minnesota. The Children’s Minnesota neonatology program is the largest in Minnesota and one of the largest in the country with NICUs also located at the organization’s Minneapolis and St. Paul hospitals.

About Children’s Minnesota

Children’s Minnesota is one of the largest pediatric health systems in the United States and the only one in Minnesota devoted exclusively to children, from before birth through young adulthood. An independent and not-for-profit system for more than 100 years, Children’s Minnesota offers more than 60 pediatric specialties through its two hospitals, multiple specialty centers and clinics throughout the metro area. The Kid Experts® at Children’s Minnesota are chosen by more families than any other pediatric health system in the region.