MACON, Ga. — Since 2019, the Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital, Atrium Health Navicent has been helping Central Georgia's youngest children.
Alana Alvarez reflects on the care she and her daughter Grace received in November of 2020.
"I knew that the nurses were taking care of her," Alvarez said.
Alvarez had some health complications and had to give birth prematurely. She came to the Beverly Knight Olsen Children's Hospital.
The hospital is the region's only pediatric hospital that cares for children and their families in central and south Georgia. Alvarez said she is grateful for the nurses and who helped take care of her and Grace.
"I was extremely blessed and lucky to be able to have this hospital in Macon," said Alvarez.
Alvarez's daughter was born 23 weeks and five days. She only weighed 14 ounces.
In 2021, the hospital cared for more than 850 neonatal patients. The hospital's medical director, Edward Clark, said he's proud of their work.
"We've been able to serve the children from south of Atlanta all the way down to the Florida line," Clark said.
Alvarez said her now 14-month-old daughter is a success story.
"She is a girl that no one thought that it could be possible for her to make it at 23 weeks and 5 days, and she did it -- and she did it because of this hospital, and because of the state-of-the-art equipment that they had," Alvarez said.
In 2021, the Children's Hospital had almost 17,000 emergency visits. That's more than 40 a day, a record high since the hospital opened their doors.
According to Atrium Health Navicent, inpatient child services were merged into one facility. This allowed for multiple opportunities for expansion to better serve children in need.