UMMC neonatal experts supporting newborn care in Greenville, Tupelo
Published on Monday, February 17, 2025
By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu
Infants in Greenville and Tupelo are getting a healthy start in life thanks to University of Mississippi Medical Center outreach.
UMMC’s Division of Newborn Medicine and its neonatal intensive care units at Children’s of Mississippi and Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants are working with teams at the newborn nursery at Delta Health Center in Greenville and the Level III NICU at North Mississippi Medical Center Women’s Hospital in Tupelo.
The Children’s of Mississippi neonatal intensive care units at the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower and Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants are the only Level IV NICUs in the state, offering the highest level of care.
The relationship between UMMC and North Mississippi Medical Center is “a well-oiled machine,” said Dr. Jeanne Nunez, assistant professor of neonatology, who serves in the NICU at North Mississippi Medical Center Women’s Hospital. “I appreciate the link with Jackson. This makes the care we provide very special.”
Dr. Omoloro Adeleke, assistant professor of neonatology, connects with colleagues in Tupelo as well as at UMMC often, calling the collaboration among neonatologists and nurse practitioners “amazing.”
“We share a strong, cohesive bond,” she said. “We learn from each other and are growing together as a team.”
At Delta Health Center in Greenville, if a critically ill infant is born when Dr. Haley Thomas, assistant professor of neonatology, is not on service, nurse practitioners consult with the physician covering Jackson’s NICUs using telehealth.
“If we do have a critically ill infant or if we have questions about a concerning exam finding, I am able to use a telehealth system which provides video assistance from a neonatologist,” Thomas said. “This arrangement with UMMC allows Greenville to continue to provide newborn care in the Delta.”
“Collaboration among hospitals is critically important, especially when it comes to the care of newborns who need specialized treatment,” said Dr. Mobolaji Famuyide, chief of newborn medicine at UMMC. “By serving as a resource to other hospitals, we ensure each newborn has greater access to the highest level of care.”
In Greenville, Children’s of Mississippi nurse practitioners Nicole Garth and Alyssa McNeer join Thomas in caring for babies in the hospital’s newborn nursery.
To the east, NICU medical director Dr. Ginger Pole, neonatologists Nunez and Adeleke, and nurse practitioners Brittany N. Harris, Brittany Wood, Kari Anna Adams, Katherine Snyder and Savannah Owens provide care to babies in neonatal intensive care at North Mississippi Medical Center Women’s Hospital in Tupelo.
Dr. Dipen Vyas, director of Neonatal Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in the Division of Newborn Medicine, contributes his expertise during service weeks at the NMMC NICU, providing hands-on training and advancing the team's proficiency in POCUS techniques.
At the UMMC campus in Jackson, newborn hospitalists Dr. Billy Mink, Dr. Rosalynn May and Dr. Justine Ibale are as close as a phone call or telehealth session.
“We can see the babies on the telehealth screen and can even listen to their hearts through a special stethoscope,” May said. “In the mornings, we do telehealth rounds, and then we’re on call. If there is a baby in Greenville or Tupelo who requires an escalation of care, we discuss neonatal intensive care at Children’s of Mississippi. With our providers there as boots on the ground, we’re able to help babies get the care they need."
Newborns are receiving state-of-the-art care through this collaboration between North Mississippi Medical Center and UMMC, Pole said.
“This collaboration has allowed us to expand the local services we can provide to patients while both in and out of the hospital,” she said. “We look forward to future opportunities to provide services for our families closer to their homes.”
While newborns receive routine care at Delta Health Center, the connection between the hospital and UMMC provides pediatric subspecialty consults.
“This ensures that newborns are treated per the latest NICU guidelines,” Thomas said. “Sometimes this can save a four-hour round trip to Jackson if a consult can be done virtually. It may also look like assisting in an arrangement to get a family to Jackson if needed. The ultimate goal is to provide the best level of care possible to infants born in Greenville.”
Thomas said practicing in Greenville is a “perfect fit.”
“I am able to serve the community I grew up in and provide services at the hospital where I was born,” she said. “The Delta desperately needs access to health care, and I love being a small part in all that goes into that.”