Infants at The Medical Center can breathe easier, thanks to the Will Rogers Institute and Carmike Cinemas. The Columbus Regional Medical Foundation received an $80,000 grant from the institute to purchase a nitric oxide transport incubator.

The Medical Center was brought to the Institute's attention by president and CEO, David Pressman and senior vice president and COO, Fred Van Noy of Carmike Cinemas. Carmike Cinemas, one of the Institute's largest donors during the Institute's summer fund-raising campaign, is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia.

The incubator will be used by the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at The Medical Center to transport newborn infants with certain breathing difficulties. Many needing this treatment have persistent pulmonary hypertension. The condition prevents adequate oxygen from getting into the bloodstream and primarily affects full-term and postterm babies. A mainstay of treatment is nitric oxide, a gas that helps the blood vessels in the lungs relax, allowing more oxygen into the bloodstream.The nitric oxide transport incubator allows sick infants to be transported without interrupting treatment.

The Medical Center is one of six perinatal centers in the region and provides care for infants in 27 Georgia and Alabama counties. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit treated more than 360 neonates in fiscal 2008.