Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU expands NICU services in Children’s Tower

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The Children's Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) has announced an expansion of its NICU into the Children's Tower.

VCU says the NICU expansion is the latest addition to the two-year-old Children’s Tower and will expand access to the hospital’s Level 4 neonatal intensive care unit.

“When we opened the Children’s Tower in 2023, we did so with an eye toward the future,” said Elias Neujahr, CHoR president. “The tower was built with shell space so we can appropriately grow along with our community’s needs. We are already noticing and working to meet the first of those needs with construction to accommodate an additional 20 neonatal intensive care beds.” 

According to VCU, the new 20-bed neonatal intensive care unit in the Children’s Tower will include 16 single rooms and two twin rooms, and is expected to welcome its first patient in January 2026.

“Our neonatal transport team regularly provides ground and air transport for premature, sick and medically complex newborns from other institutions in the commonwealth who require this highly specialized care,” said Karen Hendricks-Muñoz, M.D., chief of the Division of Neonatal Medicine, interim physician-in-chief of CHoR and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at VCU’s School of Medicine. “Our current NICU is continually at capacity, signifying that more space is required to serve babies in need of critical, innovative surgical and medical treatment that isn’t available at other hospitals.” 

The Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU is a Level 4 NICU and referral center for the region, providing the most specialized care available for premature and full-term infants with serious medical needs.

For more information about the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU, visit the website.