KMBZ: President's speech shines light on Saint Luke's Hospital NICU staff

Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City received a glowing endorsement during President Trump's State of the Union Adress when he was telling the story of the survival of a very premature baby born at the hospital.

Ellie Schnieder was one of the youngest babies in the U.S. to be born at 21 weeks and 6 days. You may have seen her story in 2018. In his address, the president talked about medical breakthroughs and neonatal care and recognized the now healthy two-year-old girl sitting in her mom's lap. 

Extremely premature babies at Saint Luke's have a 50-50 chance of survival, which is much higher than the national survival rate of just 6%. 

"The best recognition we can get is when we get hugs from grateful patients, and pictures when they turn one or when they graduate from high school," Dr. Barbara Carr, a neonatologist at Saint Luke's, told KMBZ. "But it is also nice to get this type of recognition, as well, of the work that we're doing."

Read the full KMBZ article: President's speech shines light on local hospital's NICU staff

Ellie Schnieder and her mother are recognized in President Trump's State of the Union address
Photo credit: Mark Wilson, Getty Images North America

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Neonatology