 Later this year, Salinas Valley Memorial will be expanding its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to Level III care. The Level III designation means that we will be able to care for the region’s tiniest premature and most critically ill newborns. Level III NICUs are technologically advanced nurseries that not only provide highly-specialized medical care for new borns, but also offer a comprehensive system of support for baby and family in the NICU and at home.
“The addition of the Level III NICU means that more families will be able to receive specialized care for their newborn without having to travel out of the area,” says David Kasting, MD, Neonatologist and Medical Director of the NICU.
The NICU is staffed by highly-trained physicians, nurses and other specialists. Virginia Meade, DO joins Dr. Kasting and Gregory Glasscock, MD, PhD, as the third neonatologist in the NICU. Dr. Kasting is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Dr. Glasscock is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Dr. Meade is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University. All three physicians live and practice in the Salinas area.
The community continues to benefit from our established  relationship with Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH). As one example, our Neonatologists confer with pediatric cardiologists at LPCH through a live, high-speed audio/video link. The results of echocardiograms and other diagnostic images can be shared and discussed via this link. This partnership allows us immediate access to Stanford’s specialists without having to transport the baby.
Today, Salinas Valley Memorial is one of the region’s only hospitals to have Neonatalogists immediately available, 24-hours, every day. “Even parents who anticipate a full-term, perfectly healthy baby can have confidence in the fact that the resources are here in the event special care is needed at any stage,” says Dr. Kasting. |
Caring for newborns and their families