FIRST 5 Santa Clara County invests over $2 million towards upgrading the NICU to help save the lives of premature infants.

Santa Clara County’s Valley Medical Center (VMC) has the busiest neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in the county. With 40 beds, four isolation rooms, and rooms for families to stay the night, they treat over 600 babies a year, sometimes for as long as six months. In an effort to help care for our county’s youngest children, the FIRST 5 Santa Clara County Commission is investing over $2 million to upgrade the monitoring equipment and purchase new Giraffe Beds for VMC’s busy NICU.



Dr. Balaji Govindaswami, Chief of Neonatology at VMC, states, “The investments made by FIRST 5 Santa Clara County don’t only serve VMC but the whole community. VMC cares for premature babies from hospitals all over the county. In fact, ten percent of babies in the county end up at our NICU.”

The VMC Foundation hosted a reception celebrating the NICU upgrades and dedicating a NICU room to FIRST 5 for their support. The reception included an informative session with Dr. Govindaswami; a demonstration of the state of the art Giraffe Beds; a tour of the NICU; and a personal story from Greg Steinke, Director at Altera Corporation, who shared that his daughter when born, weighed 1.1 lbs and was in the NICU at VMC for over 4 months. When Dana came into the world they thought she might not survive, but today she’s a happy and healthy little girl who speaks two languages and is getting ready to start kindergarten in the fall.

Attendees included representatives for Senator Maldonado, Congresswoman Lofgren, Supervisor Yeager, and Supervisor Kniss.

The innovative Giraffe Beds convert a baby’s bed from incubator to radiant warmer at the touch of a button, eliminating the stress of moving critically ill infants from bed to bed. These beds also create a therapeutic environment for family members. Families can hold and touch their baby through the portholes, and because of dual side access ports, they don’t have to leave when the doctors and nurses are caring for their infant.

FIRST 5 Santa Clara County’s Commission Chair, Will Lightbourne, states, “FIRST 5 sees a crucial need to help fund such important technology for our tiniest, most vulnerable babies. The Giraffe Bed is as close to the womb that can be created and VMC is doing all they can to ensure that the best care is provided to each and every infant.”

“First 5 Santa Clara County is simply the greatest champion of Valley Medical Center,” states Chris Wilder, Executive Director of the VMC Foundation. “This new investment will be measured in lives saved, families strengthened, and our whole community enhanced – because what happens to these tiny babies in the first days of their lives will be with them forever.”