Episode Details
Back to Episodes#440 - 🔵 [PAS 2026] - How Did One NICU Take 22-Weeker Survival From 12% to 72%?
Description
Dr. Thais Queliz, neonatologist at Winnie Palmer Hospital in Orlando, presents ten years of data from one of the country's highest-volume programs caring exclusively for babies born at 22 to 24 weeks. She shares how survival rates for 22 and 23-weekers climbed from 40% before the Tiny Baby program launched to 67% overall — and 72% over the last two years — driven by institutional alignment, standardized protocols, and a dedicated multidisciplinary team. She also presents Golden Hour data showing a jump from 8% to 75% completion rate after implementing strict checklists and role-defined workflows that cut average admission time from nearly two hours to 54 minutes. And she previews work on prolonged empiric antibiotics in this population — extending courses based on placental pathology — which has been associated with decreased mortality in 22 and 23-weekers, echoing findings presented earlier in the conference by her fellow Dr. Gesca Borchardt.
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