Fundraiser to Benefit Fragile Infants

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

A fundraiser to benefit the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (BMSCH) will be held Sunday, April 2, from 12:30 to 4:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick.

The “Hugs of Hope Luncheon and Fashion Show,” organized by a former NICU parent, includes an informational presentation about the NICU, raffle prizes, lunch and a fashion show spotlighting EARTHCHILD children’s fashions. EARTHCHILD will also be selling clothing, and will donate 15% of the day’s sales to the NICU.

Tickets are $75 per person and must be reserved by Monday, March 27. For more information, please contact Claire Drain at (908) 696-8885 or seedrain@hotmail.com.

BMSCH houses one of the only academic NICUs in New Jersey, featuring the most up-to-date technology to treat the most critically ill newborns in the most comprehensive manner. The family-centered NICU offers change rooms and lockers for parents, a parent lounge, cribside rocking chairs, freezers to store mom’s milk, homemade isolette covers, scrapbooking projects and a special program for sibling visits. It also features a transition room, where parents can practice how to care for their babies before they leave the hospital.

About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

Selected as one of four hospitals nationwide to offer the world's first self-contained implantable artificial heart, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.rwjuh.edu) is a 600-bed academic medical center and the principal hospital of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ. Robert Wood Johnson is an innovative leader in advancing state-of-the-art care in medicine. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, and women's and children's care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.bmsch.org). The hospital is also a Level 1 Trauma Center and serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness.

The hospital has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is ranked among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for both heart and heart surgery and respiratory disorders, according to U.S.News & World Report's 2008 ranking of "America's Best Hospitals." The American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer has rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital among the nation's best comprehensive cancer centers. The Leapfrog Group rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the 50 exceptional U.S. hospitals, as published in Consumers Digest magazine. Harvard University researchers, in a study commissioned by The Commonwealth Fund, identified Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation for clinical quality. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is also a recipient of the prestigious Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence for more than 10 consecutive years.

Attention members of the media: For more information on this release, please contact the Department of Public Relations (732) 937-8521.