Physical proximity to parents is a primary factor in the health and wellbeing of preterm babies. In this academic journal article, “Advancing NICU Care with a New Multi-purpose Room Concept”, ZGF Principal Sue Ann Barton and Dr. Robert D. White, MD, unveil a new NICU patient room prototype that presents an expanded vision of the NICU care experience for patients and families–the “Extended-Family Room” (EFR)–which has been incorporated into the design of the NICU at the Beacon Children’s Hospital in South Bend, IN. Based on continuing research and through the work of pediatric healthcare design experts like Barton, the Single-Family Room (SFR) has gained broad acceptance as a key factor in improving the NICU experience for families and, importantly, generating better health and development outcomes among premature infants. While focused on the same “couplet care” model that SFRs were created around, the EFR is a larger and more flexible multi-purpose patient room that can accommodate multiples, allow treatment for post-partum mothers who are still patients themselves, and achieves the ultimate goal of keeping not only mother and baby together, but the whole family within one private, fully-equipped space.