The Bradley family of Manteca and their 10-year-old triplets help celebrate the 10th anniversary of Sutter Health's Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center in midtown Sacramento on Aug. 21. The triplets were born premature at Sutter Memorial Hospital in East Sacramento and were transferred on Aug. 8, 2015 to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) at the new Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center. In front are the triplets, from left, Carly, Ally and Sydney; holding photos of the day they were born. In back, from left, are parents Wendy and Todd Bradley, Sutter Children's Center Medical Director Craig Swanson, Sutter Health Greater Sacramento Division President Rachael McKinney, and Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento Women's and Children's Services executive Whitney Clark. Photo courtesy of Sutter Health  

 

Editor’s Note: The Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center’s patients are from throughout Northern California and beyond, including from Sacramento, Yuba/Sutter, Yolo, Placer, El Dorado and Stanislaus counties. The center held a 10th-anniversary celebration on Aug. 21.

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - When Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento's new Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center opened in Midtown on Aug. 8, 2015, expectant mothers and new families were welcomed with the highest standard of maternity and pediatric care in Sacramento.

From beginning to end of the birth plan, parents received care in spacious suites with their newborn on the top patient floor of midtown Sacramento's tallest building with great views. Then, as their child grew up, parents knew that they could continue to receive exceptional care in the same facility. 

In the past 10 years, Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento has welcomed more newborns than in any decade of its 100-year history: 61,605 babies, to be exact.

But the Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center is far more than a place to welcome new life. It houses Northern California's largest and most advanced neonatal intensive care unit and a high-risk maternity ward where mothers receive round-the-clock care to give their babies a healthy start. It also includes a comprehensive pediatric hospital within its walls, treating children facing complex, cardiac, oncological, neurological and other serious conditions.  

"We're proud to provide not just advanced medical treatments but a healing environment where mothers and children feel supported, safe and truly cared for every step of their journey," said Rachael McKinney, president of Sutter Health's Greater Sacramento Division and interim CEO of Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento. 

In 2005, the Anderson and Lucchetti families generously committed $18 million to Sutter Health to support the Women's and Children's Center’s construction. A decade later, in August 2015, the Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center opened as a 395,241-square-foot, 242-bed acute-care hospital where patients and their families could obtain the highest level of neonatal and pediatric intensive care services, pediatric cardiac, neurological and cancer services, and high-risk and conventional maternity services, as well as other services. Construction costs totaled $821 million. 

In its 100-year history, from the original Sutter Hospital to Sutter Memorial Hospital to the Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center, the number of babies born total 417,428, more than the city of Sacramento’s population circa the year 2000. 

In Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center's first 10 years, there have been 1,152 sets of twins, 35 sets of triplets and one set of quadruplets. The smallest baby weighed 13.6 ounces and the biggest baby weighed 15 pounds, 7.3 ounces. 

"Every baby born here represents a unique story of hope, resilience and the extraordinary care that our team is dedicated to providing," said Whitney Clark, women's and children's services executive for Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento. "From the tiniest preemies to the biggest bundles of joy, we are honored to support families through every miracle and milestone." 

For 50 years, Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento has been on the forefront of care for women with high-risk pregnancies and their babies, who often need the advanced care of a NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). To help ensure these babies are delivered as healthy as possible, the high-risk maternity physicians (known as perinatologists) help mothers carry their pregnancies as long as medically safe. Extended hospital stays are common for these mothers, sometimes lasting many weeks or even months, making the hospital their home away from home. 

The Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center was built with a special unit designed especially for them. The 21 all-private, spacious rooms allow mothers to relax comfortably, welcome visits from family and even personalize the space to feel like home.

"Our goal is to support both mother and baby through every step of their high-risk pregnancy, giving them the best chance for a healthy delivery," said Dr. William Gilbert, Sutter Health's longtime perinatologist and women's service line medical director. "The private, comfortable rooms at Anderson Lucchetti provide a nurturing environment that helps reduce stress and promote healing, making a challenging time a little easier for families." 

When planning the new hospital, leadership was adamant that a helistop for medical emergency helicopters be included. The Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center helistop has been a lifesaver for hundreds of families. To date, more than 1,500 babies and expectant mothers with complicated pregnancies have been transported by medical helicopter to the facility. 

"Having the helistop right on the roof means we can get critically-ill babies and moms the care they need faster than ever before," said Dr. Gustavo Sosa, neonatologist and medical director of the NICU. "It's made a huge impact on how quickly we can respond in emergencies and that speed can be life-changing. For families facing high-risk situations, this facility offers hope and reassurance when every second matters." 

The Sutter NICU began 51 years ago to provide high-quality care to fragile infants. But as more babies needed the advanced services offered at Sutter Memorial Hospital, the NICU outgrew its location. The Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center’s NICU has 61 beds, each in an area that provides privacy for families.

Even after 10 years, Wendy and Todd Bradley of Manteca, who had triplets, talk glowingly about the center’s NICU. 

"We were really impressed by the cutting-edge technology and the family-friendly atmosphere at the Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center," Wendy Bradley said. "The new NICU's modern design and spacious rooms gave our family so much more comfort and privacy, which made a world of difference during a stressful time. It truly felt like a place built with families like ours in mind."  

The new NICU was the first in Northern California to be outfitted with Angel Eye, a camera system that allows parents to check in on their little ones remotely via smartphone or computer and was a game changer during the COVID-19 pandemic. The system was made possible through donations to a nonprofit organization started by a Sutter NICU family. 

The facility made national headlines when its pediatric heart program successfully performed the first minimally- invasive surgeries on little patients. Instead of opening the chest and cracking the sternum, heart surgeons use a pioneering technique that accesses the heart through a small port underneath the armpit. This method helps children grow up without a long chest scar and recover much faster. 

It is one of the many innovative approaches that pediatric interventional cardiologists and heart surgeons have been using at the new Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center.  

Kristal Imbrie's daughter, Ariel, who has Down syndrome and has appeared in several advertisements, was the first in the nation to undergo the minimally-invasive surgery. 

"That approach avoided so many complications during recovery: no need to stay still as long, no ribs being cut," Imbrie said. "Especially for a child with special needs, it meant she could bounce back faster. It was like she was on espresso." 

The pediatric intensive care unit is equipped to handle a wide range of complex medical conditions, including respiratory failure, sepsis, trauma and complications from chronic illnesses. This specialized unit ensures that children receive the highest level of care during critical times, which includes 20 beds and an additional 10 beds dedicated to pediatric cardiovascular care.  

The pediatric ICU also collaborates closely with other specialized departments within Sutter Children's Center, such as pediatric neurology and oncology.

"At our pediatric ICU, we focus on giving each child the care and attention they need when it matters most," said Pediatric Critical Care Director Dr. Daniel Falco. "From breathing problems to complex conditions like cancer or neurological issues, our team works closely together to make sure every child gets the right treatment. By teaming up across specialties, we're able to provide seamless care that supports the whole child and their family through tough times." 

Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, which consists of the Ose Adams Medical Pavilion and Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center, is Sutter Health’s flagship hospital and includes nationally-renowned institutes for cardiac, neurosciences and oncology care. Sutter Health is a not-for-profit healthcare system. Learn more at sutterhealth.org and vitals.sutterhealth.org.