This was followed by a discussion of the location for the post-operative care of neonates. Dr. Molly Seshia, head of the NICU, was present for this discussion. She was a strong advocate for the position that newborn children had a unique set of problems that did not lend themselves easily to the same care as was provided to older children and to adults. She had long felt that such children should be cared for in the Nursery, as the NICU was called.

The view expressed by Odim and others was that there were not enough pediatric cardiac surgical cases involving neonates for the NICU staff to gain sufficient experience in dealing with the complications that they presented. Seshia was asked to discuss with her staff the possibility of developing a system in which neonates who had undergone open-heart surgery would be handled by the PICU, while the NICU would handle neonates who underwent closed procedures. Although not convinced that there was a problem with the way that matters were being handled, Seshia agreed.