TMH names NICU in honor of FSU College of Medicine partnership
April 2016
In the course of one brief press conference, the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital unit with one of the shortest names acquired one of the longest. Everyone knows the Newborn Intensive Care Unit as the NICU (pronounced nick-you). But now its official name, in a gesture of gratitude from TMH, is The Florida State University College of Medicine Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Even that name doesn’t tell the whole story. But it’s a testament to a strong and constantly growing partnership between the community’s largest hospital and only med school.
“Both the College of Medicine and TMH are working together for the betterment of this community,” said College of Medicine Dean John P. Fogarty. “Whether it be for the smallest, most vulnerable patients, whether it’s teaching our medical students or developing residency programs for them to move into when they finish medical school, it’s just a great partnership.”
Where the NICU is concerned, FSU provides another indispensable partner: Dance Marathon at Florida State University. It’s FSU’s largest student-run philanthropy, and every year its planners and dancers work with the Children’s Miracle Network to raise ever-larger dollar amounts “for the kids,” as their slogan says.
They turn about half of the proceeds over to the College of Medicine, to benefit children in this area. Part of the money supports school-based primary-care health clinics in Gadsden County schools. Part of the money goes to child-related services at Bond Community Health Center, Big Bend Hospice and the Young Parents Project at FSU’s Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy.
And more than $1 million so far has gone to TMH’s NICU. Actually, TMH has two NICUs: one for critical care and one for intermediate care. Each year, the NICU team cares for over 600 babies.
“We are enormously proud of this partnership with the FSU College of Medicine,” said Paula Fortunas, president and CEO of the TMH Foundation. “And we know that it will flourish and endure for many years.”
As TMH President and CEO Mark O’Bryant unveiled a replica of the sign bearing the new name, FSU President John Thrasher was beaming in the front row.
“The young people who put on the Dance Marathon are just amazing,” Thrasher said. “They raised $1.4 million this year. It’s going now to create equipment and activities at Tallahassee Memorial. It’s going to save the lives of young babies. I’m so proud of the relationship between the College of Medicine and Tallahassee Memorial.”