How this mother helped build Miami’s biggest neonatal intensive care unit
Fifty-one years ago, what is now Florida’s largest neonatal intensive care unit started as a modest seven-bed ward at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital. Holtz Children’s Hospital didn’t even exist yet — but one woman’s determination would lay a foundation for what would become a lifeline for families across South Florida and beyond.
That woman was Schatzi Kassal, now 94. A pediatrician at Jackson Memorial Hospital who was seeing her baby said he needed to raise money to grow the small NICU and expand research. She didn’t hesitate and decided to organize a fundraising gala.
“My husband had a chain of liquor stores and in order for him to place an order from a wholesaler, the wholesaler had to buy a table at the gala. The NICU grew because of the liquor industry,” Kassal said.
That fundraiser became Project: Newborn, the foundation that raises money for research, medical professionals and equipment for the Holtz NICU.
From those humble beginnings, the Holtz NICU at Jackson Memorial has developed into a Level 4 NICU (there is only one other in Miami), which provides the highest level of neonatal intensive care for critically ill newborns and premature infants. With 126 beds, it’s the biggest in the state, serving patients from across South Florida, the Caribbean and Central America.
Families arrive under extraordinary circumstances.
One mother, Ashley Smith, went into labor at 22 weeks. She was sitting on a plane at Miami International Airport, waiting to fly home to North Carolina, when her water broke.
“I got off the airplane and she didn’t wait,” Smith said. “I had her at the airport.” Her baby was admitted to Holtz, where Smith and her husband return every few weeks to visit.
“My baby wouldn’t have survived if she was born anywhere else,” said Smith.
Another mother from Arkansas was on a girls’ trip to the Florida Keys with her mother and sister and went into labor at 23 weeks. She was airlifted to Holtz and she and her mother ended up renting an apartment in Miami for five months until the baby got stronger.
Each story underscores how the NICU has become a regional hub for the most fragile newborns — the only chance for survival in cases where viability begins at just 22 weeks and 300 grams.
“I’m grateful for what we have, but I’m hopeful that by the time I retire I will have my brand-new NICU,” said Dr. Karen Young, the director of the NICU. She hopes to expand to have more space so that families and physicians can have more privacy. “We recognize we’re taking care of a family —not just a baby— because this experience isn’t something anyone expected.”
Two years ago, Holtz recruited Dr. Pankaj Agrawal, formerly of Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, to be both chief of neonatology and chief physician at Holtz. Agrawal has since built a research lab at Holtz capable of delivering genetic test results within five days for babies born with unexplained abnormalities.
As a health reporter — and a mother whose baby spent six months in the Holtz NICU — I have witnessed how important their work is. I went into labor at 24 weeks, and my daughter was born weighing less than a pound with only a 50 percent chance of survival.
Our daughter will be coming home soon, but it’s been a long and stressful journey. She had both heart surgery and hernia surgery. But today, she weighs more than 6 pounds.
During those months in the NICU, I met parents from across the country and around the world — each desperately seeking help for their babies from the place that Kassal helped build more than five decades ago.
To donate to Project: Newborn and the Jackson-Holtz NICU or attend the gala on Nov. 15, visit www.projectnewborn.org
Editor’s note: This story is part of the Miami Herald Giving Section that highlights local nonprofit organizations in the community.
This story was originally published October 17, 2025 at 10:23 AM.