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The first surgery at Wellington (Fla.) Regional Medical Center’s Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was completed Aug. 10, and the patient, 3-month-old Cameron John Altman, is one step closer to heading home with his mother, according to a news release.

Cameron was born May 14 at 25 weeks of gestation weighing 1 pound, 7 ounces, and measuring 11 inches while suffering from bilateral inguinal hernias. After being given a 40% chance of survival by neonatologists and having surgery to repair the hernias, Cameron has made wonderful progress, said his mother, Dawn Altman, and recently weighed in at 4 pounds, 9 ounces.

“Considering this was the first NICU surgical case, it was as if we had been working together for some time,” said Steven Stylianos, MD, who performed Cameron’s surgery and is the chief of the department of pediatric surgery at Miami Children’s Hospital, in the release. “The OR and NICU teams were poised and professional, and the surgery went off without a hitch.”

Wellington Regional Medical Center in January opened its Level III NICU, which cares for the wide range of conditions in newborns. A specialized group of NICU nurses and respiratory therapists along with neonatologists staff the unit around the clock seven days a week.