By Cheryl Jahn

30th annual Festival of Trees launches tomorrow

Nov 28, 2023 | 11:41 AM

PRINCE GEORGE – The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at University Hospital of Northern BC has nine rooms and, at any given time, they are occupied with babies in need.

“So the neonatal intensive care unit in Prince George, especially as we keep babies that 30 weeks gestation and older and we serve all of northern BC,” says Jen Boon with the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. “We see babies that have a little bit of infection. We see babies that are too young to breathe on their own and all things in between. Babies who just need a longer time to eat and grow and get bigger and stable enough to go home.”

But the unit is in need of some attention. The equipment is getting old and the Spirit of the North Helathcare Foundation – through the Festival of Trees – is stepping up.

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“In the NICU, there’s a number of pieces of equipment that are due for replacement that are aging out as well as some new equipment that would help to benefit both the babies and parents while they’re there,” explains Natalie Kulyk, Interim Senior Operations Officer at University Hospital of Northern BC. “And so we provide a list of all of the needs across the site to Spirit of the North for any support that they can help to offer to us.”

The needs include things like external warmers, incubators, special monitors … all kinds of equipment.

“We are one of the only units where parents can stay with their patients in B.C. I think there’s only one or two now, but we were the first one in B.C. to have the unit where parents have beds and fridges and a little drawers to see what their baby’s 24 seven,” explains Boon. “It makes a huge difference. Parents being able to stay close helps babies go home faster.”

The goal of this year’s event is to raise 1.4 million dollars.