Porter Regional Hospital’s NICU Grad to Lead the Walk for Healthy Babies

Porter-New-Hospital-Coming-SoonLeading the annual March of Dimes walk – “March for Babies” – as ambassador will be Porter Regional Hospital’s NICU graduates, Gabriella Poradzisz. Gabriella was born on July 10, 2014, and weighed only one pound, 11 ounces. She spent 82 days in the NICU. According to her mother, Crystal, “if it weren’t for the Porter Regional NICU physicians and nurses, the fast action of the obstetrician, and the lifesaving research of the March of Dimes, Gabriella’s outcome would have been completely different.”

“Premature babies are too small and often very sick,” said Maria Carlisle, BSN, RN, NICU nurse at Porter. “Porter is putting together a team to walk in the March for Babies to raise money that will fund lifesaving research. We’re the advocates that will help give these babies a healthy start.”

Every day, babies are born too soon – in fact, according to the March of Dimes, one in every nine births in the United States is premature. These births account for 11.4% of all births, a higher rate than most developed nations. Premature births can cause severe, lifelong disabilities and are the number one cause of death in newborns. So to help raise awareness, Porter Regional Hospital is joining the fight to prevent premature births by walking in the annual March for Babies at 10 a.m., Sunday, April 26 at the Old Fairgrounds Park, 704 McCord Road in Valparaiso. Interested participants can join Porter’s team by visiting MarchforBabies.org and selecting the team name Porter Hospital NICU. For more information on joining the team, contact Maria Carlisle at maria.carlisle@porterhealth.com.

Porter Health Care System has two hospital campuses and seven outpatient facilities serving Porter, Lake, LaPorte, Starke, Newton, Marshall and Jasper counties. With more than 350 physicians representing 50 medical specialties, Porter Health Care System is committed to medical excellence and personalized, patient-centered care. Porter Regional Hospital is directly or indirectly owned by a partnership that proudly includes physician owners, including certain members of the hospital’s medical staff.