About the Division of Neonatal Medicine
The USC Division of Neonatal Medicine and the Institute of Maternal-Fetal Health (IMFH) comprise the Center for Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, the overarching structure bringing together the clinical, educational and research activities of the IMFH (prenatal fetal diagnosis and treatment program at CHLA and USC) and the Division of Neonatal Medicine. Faculty of the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine at CHLA and USC, Department of Obstetrics, Keck School of Medicine of USC provide the highly specialized and family-centered prenatal diagnosis and treatment services in the IMFH. Utilizing the comprehensive structure of the Center for Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, families receive longitudinal care starting from before and immediately after conception though pregnancy and after the birth of their baby under one overarching structure. In our experience, this arrangement provides the best opportunity to ensure the most appropriate transfer of information and clinical care responsibilities across the disciplines and to all care providers involved in the care of the mother, her fetus and the newly born baby. Thus, the platform provided by the Center for Fetal and Neonatal Medicine enables us to provide the highest quality and state-of-the-art clinical care so that and the best outcomes and the highest levels of parental satisfaction can be achieved in this most stressful period of the life of families involved.
Thirty full-time and part-time academic neonatologists and researchers serve as faculty members in the USC Division of Neonatal Medicine providing state-of-the-art clinical service to the patients cared for in the six intensive care units of the program as well as postgraduate education for 18 neonatology fellows, a large number of pediatric residents from two residency programs, and a number of general pediatric surgical residents and fellows, and pediatric anesthesiology fellows from the pediatric, surgical and anesthesiology-critical care residency and fellowship training programs of the Departments of Pediatrics, Pediatric Surgery, and Pediatric Anesthesiology and Critical Care at CHLA and the Los Angeles General Medical Center. Several members of the faculty are engaged in nationally and internationally recognized basic, translational and clinical research activities funded by federal and private agencies.
The division runs one of the largest and most active Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Training Programs in the nation with 18 trainees (6 trainees per year) in the program, providing structured clinical and research training to future academic and clinical neonatologists.
Los Angeles General Medical Center NICU
The NICU at the new Los Angeles General Medical Center has 39 licensed beds and the faculty and hospital staff care for neonates with disease complexity and severity ranging from very high-risk, often extremely premature critically ill neonates born at the Los Angeles General Medical Center to less premature and more stable infants requiring care during the immediate transitional period and beyond. In addition, the unit accepts critically ill patients transferred in from different other NICU’s and the hospital’s emergency room who benefit from the highly specialized and developmentally oriented patient care provided in the NICU at Los Angeles General Medical Center.
This Los Angeles General Medical Center NICU also offers specialized neonatal care including treatment of neonatal surgical conditions, Therapeutic Hypothermia Program for neonates with born birth depression and associated hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and a CCS-accredited comprehensive high-risk neonatal follow-up at the Los Angeles General Medical Center. The NICU at Good Samaritan Hospital has 23 beds and provides care for critically ill and often extremely premature neonates born at Good Samaritan Hospital. Many pregnant women with complex medical conditions are treated at Good Samaritan Hospital and their babies often need intensive care in the unit highly specialized to provide state-of-the-art services for this patient population.
In summary, the USC Division of Neonatal Medicine provides state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary, compassionate and family-centered clinical services for the sickest preterm and term neonates in an academic environment. We believe that our unwavering commitment to serve our patients and their families combined with the experience and knowledge gained from our involvement in graduate and postgraduate medical education and cutting-edge basic, translational and clinical research enable us to provide the best possible care for all critically ill neonates and infants admitted to our units.
Good Samaritan Hospital NICU:
The NICU at the Good Samaritan Hospital has 23 beds providing care for critically ill and often extremely premature neonates born at Good Samaritan Hospital. Dr. Rangasamy Ramanathan serves as the Section Chief of Neonatology and Dr. Smeeta Sardesai as the Medical Director of the NICU at Good Samaritan Hospital while Dr Rowena Cayabyab is the Associate Medical Director of the NICU. Many pregnant women with complex medical conditions are treated at Good Samaritan Hospital and their babies often require intensive care in the unit, which is highly specialized to provide state-of-the-art critical care services for this patient population. NNPs and PAs as well as NICU fellows provide care under the direct supervision of attending neonatologists using a 24/7 in-house coverage model in this NICU. All clinical care is directed by full-time faculty from the USC Division of Neonatal Medicine.