NICU graduate excited about construction of new facility at Ascension St. Vincent
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Ascension St. Vincent in Indianapolis has started a new project to house the mothers and babies in its neonatal intensive care unit.
Construction crews broke ground for the new building on its 86th Street Campus, which is connected to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital.
Elise Olsen, 10, says she spent the first few months of her life in the NICU at Ascension St. Vincent.
“It just feels like a second home for me,” Elise said.
Her mother, Jessica Olsen, was diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia — a condition that can lead to serious and even fatal complications for mother and baby — and Elise was born at 25 weeks.
“A year prior, I had lost my mom at the age of 57. She was my rock. My best friend,” Jessica Olsen said. “Not only was I grieving her loss, but I had this newborn baby and we didn’t know if she was going to make it. It was truly a trying time.”
Now in the fifth grade, Elise says she recently showed her classmates how little she was at birth.
“It was pictures of me and my handprint and feet print,” Elise said. “It just said, ‘happy one month old, Elise’ and then it said, ‘1 pound and 14 ounces.’ And everyone was like, ‘Wow, you were that tiny?’ And, yeah! I was that tiny!”
Elise was in the hospital for 106 days and on a ventilator for 37 days.
“I got to hold her on day 34, which was super memorable,” Jessica Olsen explained. “It just felt like a little bird was laying on my chest.”
Not only is the mother-daughter duo looking forward to the new NICU, but so are the staff at Ascension St. Vincent.
“I’m so excited,” Dr. Reisha Patel, a neonatal medicine specialist, said.
Patel played an instrumental role in what was decided to be installed in the new building.
“Things that are useful for families like having lounges, where they can just go and have a moment. Places to go eat. Even things for siblings to play with. All of that is so useful,” Patel said.
The new $325 million expanded NICU will have 109 private rooms and will be the largest in the state at 268,000 square feet.