The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health received a $100-million gift from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to modernize the obstetric and neonatal facilities at the hospital. This will enable the hospital to fund new facilities to increase access for expectant mothers and babies from throughout California and beyond.
The gift will transform the hospital’s existing west building, which opened in 1991. The redesign will ensure a more comfortable patient experience and facilitate lifesaving care for complex pregnancies, deliveries and newborn care. Nearly two-thirds of expectant mothers at the hospital are high-risk.
The new layout will increase the size of the labor and delivery unit to better serve the community, adding capacity for up to 20% more births. The building will also house the hospital’s first dedicated and physically separate unit for high-risk moms who need to be hospitalized for days, weeks or months before they deliver, ensuring rapid access an obstetric delivery suite.
The neonatal intensive care units will transition from having large, open rooms — which typically hold up to 10 babies, their parents and care teams and medical equipment — to private rooms where parents can stay with their babies. Recent research shows that private NICU rooms reduce mortality, shorten hospital stays, lessen parental depression and lower babies’ infection rates, as well as promote breastfeeding, family bonding and parental involvement in care.
In summary, the following are key enhancements:
- 14 private labor rooms in a new labor and delivery unit
- 9 private antepartum rooms in a specially designed unit
- 51 private postpartum rooms
- 64 private NICU rooms
- 3 new obstetric operating rooms
- Calmer setting and streamlined, family centered journey, starting with a welcoming lobby
Ensuring that there are no gaps in care for moms and babies, the west building will remain open during construction. Renovations will be completed in phases, with the goal of concluding the $800-million project by the end of 2028. This lead gift in the fundraising initiative for obstetrics and neonatal facilities has expedited the timeline for the building redesign.
