Last week, UCSD Hillcrest
Medical Center
celebrated the expansion of its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, designed to offer
24-hour specialized care for premature infants and newborns with complications.

A new 1,795-square-foot unit facility and an additional nine
beds will increase the center’s capacity for infants needing Level III neonatal
intensive care, from 780 to more than 900. The UCSD
Medical Center’s
$2.6-million project is the first in a series of initiatives to expand and
improve services for women and infants.

Neil Finer, director of the Division of Neonatology at UCSD
Medical Center,
said the expansion is a positive improvement that will help address the growing
demand for intensive infant care.

“One in eight babies across the U.S.
is born prematurely,” he said. “Here in San Diego
we have seen a sustained increase in the number of infants needing intensive
care for more than five years now. By expanding our services, we can treat more
of these fragile infants to help ensure healthy outcomes.”

More than 3,000 babies are born each year at Hillcrest
Medical Center,
which is the only academic medical center in San Diego
and the only hospital offering the combination of a labor-and-delivery service
and a regional Level III NICU on the same floor.

Level III hospitals care for babies who are delivered before
32 weeks gestation, or who require intensive care before, during or after
delivery due to serious illnesses or abnormalities.