Davenport hospital opens new area dedicated to babies

A new medical facility holds its grand opening this morning in eastern Iowa which will cater to infants — and their families. The one-point-four million dollar neo-natal intensive care facility opens at Genesis Medical Center’s east campus in Davenport. The regional care facility boasts it’ll provide a homey “village-like” setting for stressed families with babies with urgent health problems. Dr. Gregory Garvin is a pediatrician at the center. When he was born prematurely 52 years ago at the same hospital, Garvin only weighed four-pounds three-ounces and had to spend three weeks in isolation.Dr. Garvin says his mother wasn’t even allowed to see him for two weeks — until they were sure he’d live. He says it’s ironic that the family-centered nursery now allows parents to be right there as babies improve. Thanks to medical advances, he says things are much different now.Garvin says infants as small as 400-grams have survived and are doing well. Those at 750 grams, or around a pound, have an 85-to-90-percent survival rate.