Mercy Names Staff Neonatologist For Birthplace and NICU
Mercy Medical Center, 701 10th St. SE, has named Dr. Roger Allen medical director of Mercy’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and staff neonatologist for Mercy’s Birthplace. The appointment is effective Feb. 1, 2005, based upon Allen’s medical licensure by the state of Iowa by that date.
Allen currently is NICU director at Trinity Health, Minot, N.D., a position he has held since 1987. Trinity’s NICU, identified as a center of excellence, is a regional referral center for premature infants and newborns in need of critical care. Allen also is Trinity’s vice president of medical affairs.
“We’re very pleased the babies born at Mercy will have the security of Dr. Roger Allen’s skills and expertise. His credentials and experience as a neonatologist are extremely impressive,” said A. James Tinker, Mercy’s president and chief executive officer, in announcing Allen’s appointment.
Allen is board-certified in pediatrics and neonatology and is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Allen said, “I believe that every baby born at Mercy Medical Center is entitled to the best outcome that medical science can provide, in a setting that meets the emotional needs of the child and the family. Mercy can provide NICU care of the same high quality as other area hospitals, and we can keep mother and child together during those first critical days when both need hospital care. Also, by regularly caring for ill newborns, we can ensure highly trained, experienced staff is immediately available to handle unexpected emergencies in the delivery room.”
NICU nurses are present at each Mercy delivery.
Allen, a native of Charles City, Iowa, has wide experience in neonatology and pediatrics.
Prior to joining Trinity, Allen served as staff neonatologist at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, and was NICU director and chief of pediatrics at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa. He also completed a fellowship in neonatal-perinatal medicine at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash.
He is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa College of Medicine.
Allen said he looks forward to joining the Mercy family.
“I think it’s important to remember a hospital is more than a collection of high-tech equipment and highly trained people – and Mercy certainly is that. But a great hospital also is a community of faith, where God’s grace is expressed through the healing touch of employees, volunteers, family and friends – and Mercy is all of that, too. As I toured Mercy, I could see the kindness and compassion of each person I met shining through. I look forward to working with everyone at Mercy.”
Mercy’s Level II NICU was established in 1996 to care for ill newborns and babies born at a minimum of 34 weeks gestation. Since that time, Mercy worked with St. Luke’s Hospital neonatologists to provide coverage for NICU care. The St. Luke’s physicians announced in July that beginning Jan. 1, 2005, they no longer would provide services to Mercy. In the interim period from Jan. 1 to Feb. 1, the hospital has arranged to have neonatologists present on site to direct medical care in Mercy’s NICU. They are Dr. Shelley Springer, a neonatologist who trained at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and Dr. Noah Ssemakula, a neonatologist who trained at the University of Louisville (Ky.) School of Medicine.
“Nearly 1,100 babies were born at Mercy in the last year, and 141 of them were admitted to our NICU. Having the fully dedicated services of Dr. Allen for our moms and their babies is consistent with the level of service expected by our community. We’re happy to provide that,” Tinker said.
The Mercy Birthplace offers 17 private labor-and-delivery rooms. Nurses from Mercy’s Level 2 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit are present at each Mercy delivery. Mercy’s 21-bed Children’s Services (Pediatrics) Department, including the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, provides nursing care for infants through adolescents. Children’s Services is adjacent to the Birthplace.
