The IWK Health Centre is now home to a new state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit.

The new space – named NICU North - boasts 19 private rooms with double sofa beds, optional partitions between baby and family spaces, as well as private washrooms with showers, and leading-edge technology.

“We wanted families to have privacy, to be able to be a family,” says NICU operations manager Tanya Bishop. “We wanted families to have this new little person in their lives and to be able to be in a room and to have togetherness.”

Jennifer Gillivan, president and CEO of the IWK Foundation, says the new unit has been funded entirely by donors.

She became emotional when she saw NICU North for the first time when it was unveiled during a media event Thursday morning.

“I purposely stayed out. I wanted to see it the way a family would see it, and you’re standing on a world-class stage,” said Gillivan.

“The community built this, and my team, and the volunteers, and the hard work is going to literally save lives every day where we’re standing right now, and it’s awesome.”

The old NICU is a room full of incubators, curtains for walls and a single chair for family members. Gillivan says the redeveloped NICU is not only the best in Canada – it’s now among the best in the world.

IWK interim CEO Krista Jangaard and Tanya Bishop were part of the team that went to Scandinavia five years ago, looking for inspiration on how to build the best NICU.

“We sat down as a group and we drew our little drawing, I wish I still had it, that said this is what we think would suit our needs,” Jangaard says. “When I walked in yesterday, what was on that napkin was actually here.”

“I don't think there are any words that you could explain how it feels.”

The IWK treats 20 to 45 babies in its NICU at a time. Many of them are premature babies, while some have cardiac issues.

The second phase of the project – NICU South – is expected to be completed in the spring of 2019. The entire three-part Critical Care Redevelopment Project is projected to cost $34.3 million, with the NICU portion costing $26.5 million.

The IWK Foundation still needs to raise $8.5 million to complete the project.

NICU North is set to open on April 15. The entire redevelopment should be complete in the spring of 2020.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown.