Grace Jacobson / News Director

CentraCare St. Cloud Hospital recently launched telehealth services at the Monticello Birth Center to allow the smallest patients to stay closer to home and closer to their families.

This is the fourth location added.

NICU telehealth services allow regional birth centers with round the clock access to the NICU team at St. Cloud Hospital.

RN at Monticello Birth Center Jenna Buganski says, “Before NICU telehealth services, we would have to do a phone consult and try to describe what’s going on and wait for them to arrive at the birth center to transport to St. Cloud. Now they can talk us through needed steps after seeing the baby.”

CentraCare says they plan to continue to offer the services throughout its regional birth centers.

They plan to add two locations per year, with a future goal of being able to provide NICU telehealth service beyond the CentraCare service areas.