Back in March dozens of golfers teed off alongside some of the Boston Red Sox baseball players. The tournament along with several charity auctions and fundraisers were part of an effort to help some of Southwest Florida’s most fragile patients.

Two years ago the folks at the Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida realized they were going to need more room in their neo-natal intensive care unit. “We had to really start looking at increasing our beds and increasing our space so that we could keep more babies in this area rather than having to be full and sending babies out of the area,” says Michelle Waddell the Director of Neonatal Services at the Children’s Hospital.

Heather Buckley had her daughter Piper prematurely and she was treated at the Children’s Hospital NICU. “The money will definitely help. It’s to add six new beds because it is at times overcrowded in the NICU and so all that’s going to do is give more babies a fighting chance for survival.”

The Red Sox and the Southwest Florida community helped raise more than $500,000 to help build a new, six bed unit at the NICU. Michelle says, “Jack and Shelley Blais played a big part in matching those funds dollar for dollar so through their generosity we made this a reality. I have seen it from the very beginning and I would have to say from the bottom of my heart on behalf of the babies in our unit and their families that we could not have done this without the support of the community.”

Dr. William Liu is a neonatologist who works in the Children’s Hospital NICU. He says, “I’d like to express my own personal appreciation to all of those who supported us and hopefully will continue to support us. On average the NICU at the Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida cares for between 40 to 50 premature babies.