New Children's Transport Vehicle Set To Hit Eastern North Carolina Roads | Eastern North Carolina Now

    GREENVILLE, NC     Today, officials with Vidant Medical Center, Vidant EastCare and the Vidant Health Foundation launched the new children's transport vehicle with a splash of water to make it official.

    Vidant EastCare is an advanced critical transport service that is committed to providing the highest level of care for the people of eastern North Carolina. Staff identified a need for a transport vehicle to be added to the Vidant EastCare fleet that was specifically outfitted and designed to care for infants and children during their journey to the hospital.

    Children's Miracle Network provided the funds for this new specialized vehicle, which means that the money raised to pay for it came from right here in eastern North Carolina. Children's Miracle Network is a fundraising arm of the Vidant Health Foundation.

    More than 1,500 patients a year are transported to the James and Connie Maynard Children's Hospital in order to receive specialty care in the neonatal intensive care unit, pediatric intensive care unit, general pediatrics, or kids' immunosuppressed specialty unit (KISU).

    "We are so fortunate here in eastern North Carolina to have access to higher levels of pediatric specialty care such as cardiology, hematology/oncology and neurology, just to mention a few," said Brian Floyd, president, Vidant Medical Center. "And now we have a vehicle designed for our pediatric patients to get them to this specialty care."

    A dedicated children's hospital transport team will provide transport services for sick infants and children throughout eastern North Carolina. The team is comprised of intensive-care trained nurses who are skilled at providing the specialty care many of these children need from the onset of transport to the arrival at the Maynard Children's Hospital. With the addition of the new children's transport vehicle, this team will be available 24/7 by helicopter or ambulance whenever a child in the region is in need.

    "Specialized equipment such as an incubator for babies born prematurely allows the children's hospital transport team members to provide high quality care throughout the entire transport process," said Dr. Ryan Moore, co-medical director, Maynard Children's Hospital. "Attending physicians in our specialty units in Maynard Children's Hospital provide guidance to the team members via frequent updates regarding the patient's clinical status."

    Joining Floyd and Moore in the official launching of the vehicle were:

• Joel Butler, president, Vidant Health Foundation
• Scott Sampey, senior administrator, Vidant East Care
• Kim Crickmore, vice president, women's and children's services, Vidant Medical Center

• Contact: Beth Anne Atkins
•     beth.atkins@vidanthealth.com