Great Results After Discharge (GRAD) Program

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit GRAD (Great Results After Discharge) Program is a follow-up program designed specifically for infants at risk for medical or developmental difficulties due to conditions in the newborn period that required care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Our NICU GRAD team is composed of a neonatologist, a pediatric nurse practitioner specializing in premature and high-risk infants, a child psychologist, an occupational/physical therapist, a nutritionist, a family resource coordinator and a nurse coordinator. A speech therapist and social worker are also available for consultation. Each member has extensive experience in addressing the ongoing needs of families faced with caring for an infant with complex medical conditions.

Infants we see

We serve families with infants who are at risk of having problems as they grow and develop because of experiencing issues in the newborn period, such as:

• Birth weight of less than 3.3 lbs.
• Gestational age less than or equal to 32 weeks
• Bronchopulmonary dysplasia
• Persistent pulmonary hypertension
• Congenital diaphragmatic hernia
• Infants treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
• Intraventricular hemorrhage
• Periventricular leukomalacia
• Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy
• Seizures
• Neonates with Abstinence Syndrome
• Meningitis
• Hydrocephalus
• Intrauterine growth restriction
• Congenital cardiac defects
• Congenital malformations requiring surgery, such as esophageal atresia, tracheoesophageal fistula, gastroschisis, omphalocele

At the NICU GRAD Program, we focus on:

• Delivering quality medical care to high-risk infants
• Improving access to specialized developmental and nutritional services
• Promoting coordination of services among multidisciplinary providers of care
• Post-discharge medical follow-up
• Neurodevelopmental testing at regularly scheduled intervals
• Coordination of subspecialist care
• Nutritional evaluation and treatment
• Occupational and physical therapy, evaluation and treatment
• Social work assessment and assistance
• Referrals for intervention and community services

Locations

NICU GRAD Program is located at our Pediatric Specialty Centers at 1 Long Wharf in New Haven and at 633 Middlesex Turnpike in Old Saybrook. The Program is also offered at Greenwich Hospital.