Fort Myers NICU infants arrive at Memorial Healthcare System

MIAMI – Twenty infants from the NICU in Fort Myers are arriving at Memorial Healthcare System. 

“They’re coming from a neonatal intensive care unit. The severity can range from premature, to full term requiring respiratory support,” explained Janessa Alonso. She is the director of nursing for the NeoNatal ICU at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. 

“We’re excited we’re able to provide this support and we’re welcoming them with open arms,” she said. 

And it’s not just the little ones who got out of harm’s way. 

Wickshire assisted living in Fort Lauderdale is a bit more crowded than usual.  

About a hundred seniors from their fort Myers property are now calling South Florida home, at least for now. 

“We’re very pleased and blessed that we were able to get out,” said Lenora Wise. She and the others were evacuated from Fort Myers on Tuesday, ahead of Ian.  

Now, she and the rest are making the best of it. 

“We were worried about our building because that’s our home. We’re going around trying to bring everybody up and say, relax, they’re taking care of us.  Look at this as a vacation.  We get to see other things here,” she said.

Today, beds arrived to replace temporary bedding.  

Each vacant apartment is set up to hold several evacuees.  

“What we’re able to do is accommodate our assisted living residents in apartments that are available in the assisted living wing and then our residents with memory care needs are in our separate community across the driveway,’ said Staci Lynn. 

She is the Chief Operating Officer of Wickshire Senior Living. She says this is “all hands on deck.”  

The question now is when will everyone be able to go home? 

“It’s not safe to return because there’s no running water in the city, there’s no electricity right now and they’ve even evacuated the hospitals there,” she said.