Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center safely transfers 44 babies into new state-of-the-art NICU

Forty-four babies have safely settled into a new neonatal intensive care unit at Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center after months of planning and a carefully coordinated move.

More than 100 doctors, nurses and caregivers helped transfer the hospital's smallest patients into the new NICU inside Wellstar's Yellow Tower, making sure each infant remained connected to lifesaving equipment throughout the move.

The new 49-bed NICU is part of Wellstar's nine-story, 300,000-square-foot Yellow Tower, a $400 million expansion designed to increase capacity and enhance specialized care for patients across metro Atlanta. 

Hospital leaders say the unit was built with families in mind, featuring private patient spaces, natural light, advanced monitoring technology and six couplet care rooms that allow mothers and babies receiving specialized care to remain together. The NICU also includes a centralized Milk Lab that prepares customized nutrition for premature and critically ill infants. 

"It's a lot more open, has a lot more technology, a lot more space for them to care for their baby," said Dr. Shay Evans, a neonatologist who helped lead the transition.

As each baby arrived, NICU teams quickly reconnected oxygen, monitors and other medical equipment before preparing the next room for another patient.

Among the families beginning a new chapter are Cera and Gabriel Matta. Their 2-month-old daughter, Liliana, was born at 32 weeks after complications from twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.

The family also lost Liliana's twin sister.

"She's just learning how to be a baby," Cera Matta said. "When they're premature, they haven't had all that time to develop."

Matta said the support from nurses and doctors has helped her family through one of the most difficult periods of their lives.

"It's been a long ride," she said. "All the nurses here have been very supportive, and doctors have been very supportive and great at communicating everything."

As Liliana continues to grow stronger, her parents remain focused on one goal: bringing her home.

For the NICU team, the work continues preparing each room, welcoming each patient and supporting every family through the journey.