The neonatal intensive care unit at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center was expanded in 2009 to better meet the needs of our growing San Luis Obispo community. With 22 licensed beds, it is the only Level III NICU between Santa Barbara and Salinas. Providing critical care services for infants born at twenty-three or more weeks gestation, the facility prevents local pediatricians from having to transport sick newborns out of the area for medical care.
Three board-certified neonatologists are on-staff to provide around the clock care to the newborns in the NICU. These physicians, along with a team of highly specialized medical professionals, provide comprehensive care on par with other large academic centers throughout the country. Of the more than 1200 births each year at Sierra Vista, nearly 15-percent of infants are taken to the NICU.
Levels of Neonatal Care Units
The levels of care are used as a method of designating the care provided by hospitals for newborn infants. It is based according to the complexity of care provided, ranging from basic care or level one to the most complex care.
· Level I - Basic Neonatal Care The minimum required for any facility that provides inpatient maternity care. The hospital must have the necessary personnel and equipment to
o Perform neonatal resuscitation
o Evaluate healthy newborn infants
o Provide postnatal care
o Stabilize ill newborn infants until transfer to a facility that provides intensive care
· Level II - Specialty Care Nurseries In addition to providing all of the basic care listed above, Special Care Nurseries can
o Provide care to infants who are moderately ill with problems that are expected to resolve rapidly
o Provide care to infants who are recovering from serious illness treated in a level III (subspecialty) NICU
· Level III - Subspecialty NICU's Care for newborn infants with extreme prematurity or who are critically ill or require surgical intervention.