For decades, Stillwater and area communities have been limited in providing for their most vulnerable residents, which has now changed. Stillwater Medical celebrated a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday for a new OnCue Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which is set to open to the public mid-March. SMC partnered with Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health to open the NICU, which is the only Level II NICU in north-central Oklahoma with a dedicated neonatologist and 24-hour neonatal nurse practitioner coverage.
Private donors through the Stillwater Medical Foundation, community members and healthcare leaders raised $2.5 million to help bring advanced care to the region, which will reduce the need for patient transport.
The NICU is sponsored by OnCue, who provided the lead gift. Laura Aufleger, president of OncCue, spoke at the ribbon-cutting, sharing the challenges her own family faced when needing neonatal care while living in Dallas, and how the experience inspired her to ensure Stillwater families have that same care. She said the NICU project is “100% community driven, 100% life changing.”
“It’s not just a building, it’s hope,” Aufleger said. “It’s a promise to families that the most fragile moments will be met with the best care right here at home. For local families, this isn’t just a hospital unit, it’s a future. It’s a place where tiny infants can grow and their parents don’t have to travel miles for the care that their baby needs – and where love and medicine come together to save lives.”