'Outstanding': Local contractor buys incubator for newborn babies at Sault hospital

Local contractor Mike Moore, owner/operator of Mike Moore Construction, has stepped up to purchase a new incubator for babies in Sault Area Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

The new unit cost $44,104, the money for the purchase donated to the Sault Area Hospital Foundation (SAHF).

Moore’s wish to purchase a new incubator for SAH stems from more than a generous, community-minded spirit.

It’s personal.

“My son was born prematurely," Moore told SooToday. "He was six pounds and he had to go into one so that’s how I knew of them. The modern incubators have computerized screens that show vital signs for the baby. My son’s incubator didn’t look like that. It was like a cradle with a bubble."

Babies who are born prematurely — before 37 weeks — can have problems such as low birth weight and difficulty breathing. A baby incubator helps control their temperature while they receive the treatment needed for them to gain strength. Some prematurely-born babies can be in incubators for a few hours or a few days, others for weeks or months.

“Some of our littlest patients need support to grow and get well enough to go home with their family. Incubators are really powerful because they protect the baby in many ways,” said Lee Rendell, SAHF donor engagement and programs officer.

“They manage temperature, humidity, and oxygen levels. They keep babies warm. Without them, preemie (prematurely-born) babies needing an incubator would spend all their energy staying warm instead of growing so they’re really essential. They mimic the womb so they keep the babies calmer as well which really helps while they’re getting care. The warm environment also means babies can stay in just a diaper instead of a full swaddle. That lets care providers see a baby’s belly which can tell them things about a baby’s breathing or digestion. Being able to see the baby clearly helps our care teams notice problems right away and intervene quickly. Incubators  also protect vulnerable preemies from being exposed to airborne viruses and infections. During outbreaks and flu season that helps keep babies safe and gives their families peace of mind,” Rendell said.

The recently purchased incubator also has a special door that can open for care teams and loved ones to reach in and touch the baby. It allows nurses and doctors to easily check on babies, providing treatment without taking them out of the incubator.

There is a significant need for incubators at SAH.

“We have approximately 800 babies born every year at this hospital and approximately 120 of them, or 15 per cent, are going to need care in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. That’s significant because we not only look after babies in the Sault but many of them from the Algoma District. We have a lot of people that bring their babies here because they don’t have NICUs at their local hospitals in the smaller communities in Algoma,” Rendell said.

Sault Area Hospital has been assessed to need eight incubators — medically known as ‘infant isolettes.’

The units at SAH need to be replaced as some of them are now more than 10 years old, dating from the time SAH moved to its new location at 750 Great Northern Rd. in 2011.

The incubators’ software tends to get dated after seven years in service.

Rendell said that SAHF learned in spring 2024 that the hospital needed at least $150,000 in funding to replace essential equipment for babies in its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. 

SAHF raised $90,000 with the help of donors. Then, with Moore’s gift of a new incubator, the foundation reached 90 per cent of that $150,000 goal, still needing another $15,000 for other equipment such as a fetal monitor and infant breathing equipment.

The work of raising money to buy more incubators continues.

“They’re in the process of being replaced. We have some new ones so we’re about 50 per cent there,” Rendell said, adding that the new units — such as the one gifted by Moore — are more user friendly with up-to-date computerized screens.  

“Babies can’t help themselves. This is important,” Moore said.

Annual Ontario Ministry of Health funding for hospitals goes to paying hospital employees such as nurses and other medical personnel, administrators and other staff as well as hospital building maintenance and hydro costs. 

Money to purchase hi-tech medical equipment such as CT scanners, MRI scanners, ultrasound and X-ray equipment and other medical gear - like incubators for babies - comes from donations and fundraising efforts organized by the Sault Area Hospital Foundation.

Every year, SAHF needs to raise at least $5 million in community support to fund equipment needed at SAH.

Other essential equipment needed this year include:

• chemistry analyzers for the lab that examine blood and other samples so that physicians can diagnose and treat patients
• 15 medical and surgical beds that are now more than 10 years old, SAH physicians performing over 15,000 surgeries each year
• A new X-ray machine and radiology room where X-rays of the bones, abdomen and chest are taken, seeing over 100,000 patient visits each year

A new state-of-the-art LINAC machine to deliver radiation treatments to cancer patients at SAH was funded by Cancer Care Ontario in the amount of $2.25 million and put into service as of August 15, 2024 but it was SAHF, with the help of donors, that paid for approximately $1 million in other costs related to that project.

“It makes me feel great to help. Outstanding,” Moore said of buying a new incubator for the hospital’s littlest patients.

“Mike Moore and his whole construction team are very inspiring. We can do what we do because of people like Mike Moore and his group. It takes donors giving whatever they can, however they can, stepping up with whatever they can. That is what makes the Sault great and that is what makes the care at our hospital better,” Rendell said.

Moore also put $250,000 toward construction of the new SAH building and has donated toward the hospital’s Algoma Regional Renal Program.

The renal program is another personal matter for Moore.

He told SooToday that he personally undergoes dialysis treatments at Sault Area Hospital three entire mornings a week.

Moore is part of a team — known as Nephro On The Go — that will be participating in this year’s Kidney Foundation Kidney Walk.

The event takes place Sunday, Sept. 22, starting off from the Roberta Bondar Pavilion at 10 a.m.

Registration takes place at 9 a.m.  

Out of $22,095 raised for the Sault’s local version of the annual nationwide walk as of Wednesday, August 28, Nephro On The Go led in fundraising with $11,645.

Donations to the Sault Area Hospital Foundation’s fundraising efforts for Sault Area Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) can be made here.

Information on all of the Sault Area Hospital Foundation’s needs and how to donate can be found on the SAHF website.

More information on the Kidney Foundation Kidney Walk and how to donate can be found online.