Bridging a Key Gap in Infant Care
A specialized clinic at Renown Health ensures babies discharged from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit( NICU) receive the therapy services they need while waiting to see a community provider.
AFTER A NICU STAY, babies who need outpatient therapy often face a challenge: a shortage of neonatal and pediatric therapy services in northern Nevada. Demand for these services has outpaced the limited supply of available providers, leading to extended wait times for appointments. Renown Health offers a short-term solution: the Renown Bridge Clinic.
“ We established the Renown Bridge Clinic in November 2023 to provide therapy services to infants identified in our hospital as being at high risk for developmental delays or feeding issues,” says Kendra Webber, MPT, director of Acute Rehab Therapy at Renown Health.“ The goal is to provide a transitional, supportive environment for these patients until they can establish therapy services with Nevada Early Intervention Services or another community provider.”
Complex Patient Population Located on the fifth floor of the Sierra Tower at Renown Regional Medical Center, the Renown Bridge Clinic provides physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology. The team frequently treats infants born at 30 weeks’ gestation or earlier, infants of a mother with diabetes or babies diagnosed with:
• Brachial plexus injuries
• Cranial deformities
• Down syndrome
• Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
• Infants with sensory processing difficulties or challenges
• Torticollis
“ Our therapists determine the frequency of visits based on each patient’ s needs, with patients averaging one to two visits per month,” Webber says.“ We typically discharge patients when they achieve age-appropriate developmental skills consistent with their corrected or adjusted age, or once they establish with an outpatient therapy provider.”
The clinic aims to discharge patients to community therapy services by 6 months of age.
Collaborating to Help Patients Thrive The members of Renown Bridge Clinic’ s interdisciplinary team partner seamlessly, approaching each patient’ s treatment plan from their own areas of expertise.
“ An infant’ s ability to achieve age-appropriate milestones is multifaceted,” Webber says.“ For example, if an infant is fussy all the time and has developed a motor pattern of constantly being in extended postures, this can impact feeding, selfregulation and the acquisition of gross motor skills. Providers from each therapy discipline work on their scope of practice, which will help the infant achieve milestones more quickly.”
The therapy providers also collaborate with the clinicians who care for patients in the NICU. In many cases, these clinicians follow up with patients in the Renown Bridge Clinic, providing continuity of care for families.
Learn more about the full scope of pediatric services at Renown Children’ s Hospital: renown. org / locations / renown-childrenshospital.
EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
When the Renown Bridge Clinic debuted in late 2023, its team of therapists expected to see approximately 20 patient visits per month. Appointments quickly blew past that initial projection. The clinic hosted an average of 63 visits per month in 2024 and surged to 90 per month in 2025, underscoring the need for these intermediate infant therapy services in northern Nevada.
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 | Renown Health | 13