Ballad Health finishes NICU expansion

JOHNSON CITY — The new neonatal intensive care unit at the Ballad Health Niswonger Children's Hospital — an expansion in the works since 2019 — will move its first patients in on Tuesday. The $53 million project has consolidated all of Ballad's highest-level neonatal care into one location. The 43,000 square feet unit has beds for up to 48 babies across two floors, a nursing station, two procedure rooms, a milk lab and other updated technology. Among some of the largest improvements, Ballad executives said, are the single-family rooms. In a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, Ballad Southern Region President Lisa Carter said babies are currently taken care of in an open-bay NICU, where patients and families are often right next to each other. It's an environment, she said, that makes it hard to bond and be a parent. "That's why this unit is so different," Carter said. "We can have families close together, and they don't have to worry about visiting hours, and they don't have to worry about what's happening with the baby beside of them." The event also highlighted 15 people who had previously "graduated" from the health care system's NICU. The graduates, aged 1 to 29 years old, wore blue caps and gowns and celebrated by throwing their caps as the facility ribbon was cut. Young NICU graduates gather in front of the Ballad Health Niswonger Children's Hospital Thursday, March 5, 2026. The grads threw their caps at the same time as the ribbon-cutting. JOY MAZUR/SIX RIVERS MEDIA "I was trying not to be emotional in front of everybody," NICU graduate and speaker Keaton Snyder said. "But how can you not, when you see all these success stories and just know that when we open this new unit, there's just that many more to come." Snyder, who was born 13 weeks prematurely with his twin sister, now works as a respiratory therapist in the very same NICU unit where he was once a patient. Ballad Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alan Levine, Niswonger Foundation Founder Scott Niswonger, Ballad Health Foundation President Jack Simpson, Niswonger Children's Network CEO Chris Jett and pediatric physician Dr. Sean Brown also spoke at the event. Other community leaders present in the audience included Kingsport Mayor Paul Montgomery, Washington County Mayor Joe Grandy and Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby. "The fact that we have mayors from Kingsport and Carter County here tells you the regional nature of the services that we're providing," Levine said. "This is a tremendous example of what happens when the whole region comes together and focuses on a goal." The consolidation, which downgraded NICU services at the Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, has faced criticism from medical professionals and the public. Protestors gathered outside of the Kingsport hospital for hundreds of days in late 2019 and early 2020 to oppose the decision. A nurse demonstrates one of the new NICU patient beds with a baby doll. The new unit has single-family rooms where each baby can have its own space. JOY MAZUR/SIX RIVERS MEDIA The issue came up again at the Certificate of Public Advantage hearing in November, when one speaker from the public said the decision to close the Holston Valley NICU put the "very most vulnerable at risk of delayed care and need for transfer." A webpage prepared by Ballad about the decision says recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and other studies point to better outcomes when care is centralized. Ballad Health Foundation President Jack Simpson added that he thinks the health care system has proven they're in a much better place by having consolidated services. "When you can put specialists together…and you get people that are able to practice their skill more often, you end up with a better quality output," he said. Chris Jett, Niswonger Children's Network CEO, added that the NICU supports a 200-mile radius and has a transport team to bring babies to the Johnson City location. People who protested in 2019 did not respond to requests for comment.