Meet Your NICU Team
Seattle Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Our NICU team has special training to care for critically ill newborns. We respect families as key members of your child’s healthcare team. We will work with you to make decisions and treatment plans for your baby.
The care team in Seattle Children’s NICU includes:
- Neonatologists (doctors specializing in newborn care)
- Neonatal and
- Nurses
- Lactation Services
Read about the different roles on your child’s healthcare team.
The NICU team works closely with other Seattle Children’s specialists to coordinate care for newborns with complex problems. Depending on your baby’s needs, they may receive care from pediatric surgeons, , , heart surgeons, , , , , and .
Leadership
-
Interim Chief, Neonatology
-
Medical Director, Infant Ground Transport Program, Seattle Children's Hospital
-
Medical Director, Seattle Children's NICU
-
Director of Quality, Neonatology Regional Network Site Sponsor, Children's Hospitals Neonatal Consortium
-
Catherine Wagner, RN, BSN, NICU clinical practice manager
-
Erin Peters, NICU clinical practice manager
-
-
APP Director
-
Karen Kelly, MN, RN, clinical nurse specialist
-
Lori Chudnofsky, NICU director
Team
Neonatologists in Seattle Children’s NICU
Our Neonatologists at Affiliate Hospitals’ NICUs
We provide care for sick newborns in the NICUs at the University of Washington, Providence Regional Medical Center, Swedish Medical Center, CHI Franciscan Health, Highline Medical Center and UW Medicine Valley Medical Center. These include:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Colin J Parker, MD
-
-
-
Angel Rios, MD
-
-
-
-
-
Providence Regional Medical Center Everett
Seattle Children's neonatologists and neonatal nurse practitioners and physician assistants also care for patients at CHI Franciscan Health, Providence Regional Medical Center and UW Medicine Northwest Hospital and Medical Center. The leaders and their medical director partners of that program are:
UW Medicine Northwest Hospital and Medical Center
-
Angel Rios, MD
-
Seattle Children's Hospital
CHI Franciscan Health
-
Robin G LaGrandeur, MD
-
-
UW Medicine Valley Medical Center
Critical Care Transport
Our Critical Care Transport program partners with Airlift Northwest to provide the specialized care needed to safely transport critically ill infants by ground or air. We transport more than 600 newborn patients each year. A NICU nurse and a respiratory therapist always ride along with the newborn on critical care transports. This team is in frequent contact with a neonatologist throughout the transport process to ensure the highest quality of patient care. The leaders of the Critical Care Transport program who specialize in transporting newborns and infants are:
-
Chris Baker, nurse manager, Critical Care Transport Services
-
Leaders in improving patient care and outcomes
Our faculty hold national leadership and research roles that strengthen our patient care and outcomes. Both of these leaders work with the HEAL trial and other clinical research on improving brain development in premature babies.
Neonatal Advance Practice Providers (APP)
Seattle Children’s Neonatal APPs partner with neonatologists to provide excellent care across the greater Seattle region. APPs include advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNP) and physician assistants (PAs) who have specialty training for complex care of newborns. Neonatal APPs are present in the Seattle Children’s NICU, along with all the affiliated NICUs. Neonatal APPs are able to diagnosis, treat, and provide medications, while also providing support to families during critical moments.
Learn about Seattle Children’s Neonatology research and advances.