NICU Follow-Up Screening Clinics are held bi-monthly in Missoula in collaboration with Community Medical Center. Early screening in the areas of hearing (as needed), physical growth, communication, motor development, and cognitive or problem-solving skills is completed on babies 6, 12, 18, and 24 or 30 months of age. The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development – 3rd Edition is the formal assessment used at the NICU clinics.
NICU clinics are designed to screen babies that have a risk factor or high probability of exhibiting developmental delays. The primary purpose of screening is to identify children who may need further evaluation, however, NICU clinics also can be used to determine eligibility for Part C services. Screening needs to be a collaborative effort, incorporating a multidisciplinary approach to include parents, doctors, nurses, therapists, cognitive specialists, and audiology (as needed). Multiple sources of information to include observation, social/medical history, results of formal instruments, and parent report should be included in the screening process. Referrals to appropriate early intervention services should be the ultimate outcome of the screening process when appropriate.
NICU Clinic referrals are completed by doctors and/or nurses and have a designated criteria. All referrals have to be made with parental notification and approval. All clinics are at no cost to families. Reasonable accommodations will be met for multiples (i.e., twins, triplets, quadruplets, etc.) or families with unique considerations. Other assessment tools may be implemented to determine strengths and weaknesses in development (e.g., Preschool Language Scale, Early Language Milestones, Peabody).
Babies are generally referred to NICU Clinics upon discharge from the hospital. However, if you have a child under the age of 12 months who was at least eight weeks premature or had other neonatal complications, call CDC to see if a referral to the clinic is appropriate.
NICU Clinics are held at Community
Medical Center in Missoula and Kalispell Regional Medical Center in Kalispell. They are held bi-monthly and last about 1.5 hours. They are provided at no cost to families.