TUPELO, Mississippi—North Mississippi Medical Center and the University of Mississippi Medical Center recently welcomed several new physicians and nurse practitioners to care for this region’s smallest and most critically ill infants.

On July 1, UMMC began managing the 34-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Tupelo, which cares for babies born at NMMC Women’s Hospital as well as those transferred from other north Mississippi hospitals. The only Level III NICU in north Mississippi, the unit offers around-the-clock care to infants in semiprivate rooms where parents can stay with their babies if they choose. UMMC’s main campus in Jackson is home to the state’s only Level IV NICU, the highest level.

Recently joining the NICU team at NMMC Women’s Hospital are:

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  Jeanne Nunez, M.D., completed her medical training and pediatrics specialization at University of Paris V Necker Enfants-Malades Hospital in Paris, France. She completed a pediatrics residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and a neonatology fellowship at the University of Maryland Medical System in Baltimore. During her career, Dr. Nunez has cared for NICU patients in Maryland, Virginia, North Dakota, Arkansas, Ohio, Michigan, Texas, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. She served as the director of the Newborn Nursery at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and as neonatology consultant for Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital Center for Neonatal Transitional Care in Baltimore. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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  Wambui Waruingi, M.D., began her medical training at University of Nairobi in Kenya. She completed her internal medicine and pediatrics residency and neonatology fellowship at Case Western Reserve Metro Health Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. She served as a post-doctoral research fellow in immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. She also holds a doctorate in public health sciences focused on epidemiology and health management and policy from St. Louis University and earned certification in global health practice from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Waruingi is pursuing a master’s degree in health administration from Saint Louis University. She has served as a neonatologist at Sheridan Healthcare, Lovelace Women’s Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico and at Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center in Ohio. She served as an assistant professor at St. Louis University Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Indiana University, The Women’s Hospital in Newburgh, Indiana. She also has served as the medical director of Missouri Medical Management for Anthem. She is a member of the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians, the American College of Physician Advisors and Missouri and Illinois Perinatal Collaborative advisory board. 

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  Kari Anna Adams, NNP, earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees in nursing from University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. Before becoming a board-certified neonatal nurse practitioner, she worked for five years in Level III NICU at Merit Health Women’s Hospital and Level IV NICU at UMMC as a registered nurse. She joined the NMMC Women’s Hospital NICU staff in June 2019. She served on the Labor and Delivery committee at UMMC and remains a member of the Florida Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners.

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  Kelli Carey, NNP, has been caring for fragile newborns for more than a decade in northeast Mississippi and north Alabama. Since 2008, she has served as a board-certified neonatal nurse practitioner in the NICU at DCH Health System in Northport, Alabama, and Children’s Health Center in Columbus. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus and her master’s degree in nursing from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. She is a member of the National Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners and the National Association of Neonatal Nurses.

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  Brittany Harris, NNP, started her NICU career before she became a nurse, serving as a patient care tech while finishing her final year of nursing school. She earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees in nursing from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. She started her career as a registered nurse in the NICU at UMMC in 2012, growing into leadership roles. She earned her board certification as a neonatal nurse practitioner in 2019.

• Beth Mullins, NNP, has been caring for critically ill infants in and out of the hospital for nearly 30 years. She earned her undergraduate and masters’ degrees in nursing from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson and began working as a staff nurse in the NICU at UMMC in 1994. She became a nurse practitioner in 1998 working in Mississippi and California. Outside the NICU, Mullins took to the roads and the skies as a neonatal transport nurse. She also earned emergency medical technician certification and served as neonatal transport coordinator for UMMC. She joined the NMMC Women’s Hospital team in March. No photo available.

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  Anna Kathryn Noel, NNP, completed her both her undergraduate and master’s degrees in nursing at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. She worked in the Level IV NICU for six years at UMMC before earning her certification as a neonatal nurse practitioner. She worked at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, before joining the NMMC and UMMC team in Tupelo. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, an international nursing honor society and is a member of the Florida Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners.

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  Charity Tamboli, NNP, has spent more than 20 years caring for critically ill newborns in north Mississippi and west Tennessee. After graduating from Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia in 1997, she began her nursing career in 1997 taking care of mothers who had just given birth. In 1998, she began her work in nursery and NICU at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Desoto, later taking on leadership roles at the Southaven hospital and Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women in Memphis. She earned her bachelors’ degree in nursing from Baptist College of Health Sciences in Memphis and her masters’ degree in nursing from University of Alabama-Birmingham. As a neonatal nurse practitioner, she has been part of the team at the NMMC Women’s Hospital NICU since 2017. She is a member of the National Organization of Neonatal Nurses and the Florida Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners.

  For more information, visit www.nmhs.net/nicu or call 1-800-THE DESK (1-800-843-3375).