<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0qTRf3_1EPbCNKF00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0qTRf3_1EPbCNKF00" width="1200" height="600" >MONROE, La. (KNOE) - We’re getting closer to a complete remodel of the St. Francis Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St. Francis Medical Center. “We just celebrated our 113th birthday at St. Francis, so we’re here; we’re a pillar in this community. We want to be what the community needs,” says Christa Lewis, Senior Director of Women’s and Children’s Services at St. Francis. It’s been under a remodel since last year. It’s the first huge construction project for the over 46-year-old facility. The hospital serves a 17-parish region along with some counties in southern Arkansas. They’re the only Level III NICU in that area, meaning families have an option to stay in NELA instead of having to travel to Shreveport or Baton Rouge. “The NICU closes from 6 to 9 in the morning and 6 to 9 at night so you have a small window, especially if you’re working, and if you live far off. So it’s really nice we only had to drive 16 minutes,” says Megan Fandal. Her baby, Samuel, spent three months in the NICU in 2025.This remodel will add five rooming-in rooms where parents can stay with their child and learn how to care for them before they’re discharged. “This room will be one of the rooming-in rooms; it’ll be more for a feeder and grower, a baby that’s learning to take all its feeds, has certain medications, and the parents can stay overnight here with the baby and do all the feedings for the baby and prepare medications, learn about oxygen, etc,” explained Lewis. They finished work on a milk preparation room. Lewis said she’s excited for the new consultation space. “When the doctors need to meet with the families, they have a way to pull up X-rays; they have a way to pull up scans, images, and things. To be able to sit, educational pieces they can sit one on one with parents and have that interaction in a closed space that’s not in the middle of the unit with other parents or babies crying,” said Lewis. It will be filled with the newest tech and streamline the workflow. “The level II side, the best of it is when we have our isolation room, so if we do have a baby that gets admitted from home, they’re able to be isolated, or a baby where the mother has an infection and the baby has to be isolated until we can show that the baby’s negative,” explained Lewis. “This will allow those mothers to be able to stay with their babies in those isolation rooms to have a little bit more privacy.”Phase I, which remodels the Level II NICU side, is complete. That’s the side where the less critical babies are treated before going home. Phase II will now revamp the Level III side of the NICU. “Because every baby is down on this side of the unit, it’s a little bit challenging,” said Lewis. “I appreciate all the patience everyone’s had with us as we navigate this construction.”St. Francis expects the project to be finished by Fall of 2026.This remodel was only possible thanks to funds raised from the 2 Cars 2 Winners Raffle, benefitting Women’s, Children’s and Critical Care services at the hospital. Funds also go to St. Francis’ Level II Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Level III Trauma Center. “I just see growth and opportunity. I’ve seen our facilities change year over year,” said Lewis. “I’ve seen reinvestments put back into this organization. The fact that we’re at 10 years of the 2 Cars 2 Winners that’s a milestone. It’s amazing that the community has supported this project for this long.”This year, Creed &amp; Creed Law Firm is upping the prize money in the Early Bird Drawing. If you buy a ticket between now and August 21 at noon, you’ll be entered into a special drawing for $10,000! That’s on top of your chance to win either a 2026 Nissan Frontier PRO-4X or a Toyota 4Runner SR5.Tickets are available online for $50, or you can stop by the hospital gift shop in person for a ticket. Sales close on September 25 at midnight.We’ll draw the winners live on KNOE at 6 p.m. on October 1, 2026.</div></body>

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MONROE, La. (KNOE) - We’re getting closer to a complete remodel of the St. Francis Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St. Francis Medical Center. “We just celebrated our 113th birthday at St. Francis, so we’re here; we’re a pillar in this community. We want to be what the community needs,” says Christa Lewis, Senior Director of Women’s and Children’s Services at St. Francis.

NICU remodel almost complete!

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MONROE, La. (KNOE) - We’re getting closer to a complete remodel of the St. Francis Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St. Francis Medical Center. “We j

NICU remodel almost complete!

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