LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – The Bryan Foundation is working to raise $15 million to expand the neonatal intensive care unit at Bryan Health, helping create more space for some of the hospital’s smallest patients.
Hospital leaders say the need is growing. In 2025 alone, around 100 babies had to be transferred to other rooms because the NICU was at capacity.
The current unit has 23 beds, but the planned expansion would add another 18 to 20 beds, according to the Bryan Foundation’s executive director.
As of Thursday afternoon, the campaign had raised around $6 million. Thousands more were donated during Give to Lincoln Day.
For parents like Samonni Austin, the NICU is a place filled with both heartbreak and hope.
Austin previously lost a child in the NICU. Now, she’s back again with her son, Silo, who has been receiving care there since February.
“He had two chest tubes to take out air, because he had a bunch of air accumulating in his chest,” Austin said.
Austin said seeing community support for the expansion means a lot to families like hers.
“It’s just shows that people care and it’s just these babies are very, very strong and very little,” Austin said.
Sydney and Hayden Florom also know firsthand how important the NICU can be. Their son, Knox, spent 20 days there after he was born.
“He was a pretty big baby when he was born and he had trouble maintain his oxygen levels,” Sydney Florom said.
During some of the family’s hardest moments, Florom said the hospital staff provided comfort far beyond medical care.
“A nurse who just sat with me as I was crying in a chair and didn’t know what was going on. She just sat with me,” Sydney Florom said.
Now, families who have relied on the NICU say they hope the community will rally behind the expansion project.
“They impact so many more lives than you think that they do,” Sydney Florom said. “They just deserve all of the extra space and care in the world to just keep doing their job even better.”
Both mothers said the care they received made them feel like family.
“I truly don’t think I would have made it without them through any of this process it was pretty great,” Sydney Florom said.
“When my son was, when my last son passed, a lot of them came to his funeral and they’re just there for me,” Austin said.
Bryan Foundation officials say construction on the NICU expansion could begin shortly after the fundraising goal is reached. Those interested in donating can find more information on the Bryan Foundation’s website.
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