Thank you for your support
Some people make choices that change lives. Thank you for being one of them by supporting the ongoing work at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Women and Children Services. Your generosity has enabled us to upgrade equipment, train staff, and offer free classes and resources for our community. Thanks to you, we are now able to fully utilize our NICU Level II licensure, enabling us to care for newborns as young as 32 weeks gestational age in our Special Care Nursery, keeping families close to home.
Please know that your thoughtful acts of giving will make a difference in the lives of many women and children in our community. A heartfelt thank you for making all of this possible.
With deepest gratitude,
Keila Y. Torres, JD, DrNP Director of Nursing, Women & Children Services
Expanded pediatric unit offers great care close to home
Recently PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center opened a new Pediatric Care Unit, offering familycentered space for children who need to stay in the hospital, from new babies needing extra care, to children experiencing chronic conditions or those recovering from inpatient surgery. The unit consists of four dedicated rooms with seven beds to care for children and two additional rooms for swing or overflow patients. One of the rooms serves kids whose outpatient procedures may require several hours of careful observation, for example infusions, difficult lab draws, medication monitoring or sedated imaging. The new Pediatric Unit will serve as a “dress rehearsal” for the Pediatric Unit that will be built in the coming Peter Paulsen Pavilion, enabling us to test the functionality and efficiency of these spaces. In addition to the specially trained/board certified hospitalists, all the nurses who work on the unit are specifically cross-trained to care for children of all ages. Along with our Special Care Nursery that cares for babies 32-weeks and older, our St. Joseph Pediatric Care Unit also works closely with Seattle Children’s Hospital to serve as the primary hub for pediatric care north of Everett. Having these services available at St. Joseph means families can stay local for more of their child’s care – which means less disruption, expense and hassle for them. With the help of donors like you, PeaceHealth St. Joseph plans to continue the growth of dedicated pediatric services to meet the needs of the community.
Recent Fund Distributions
made possible by your gifts
$276,892 for Giraffe Ominbeds
$25,944 for Flex Birthing Simulators
$33,859 for Other Equipment
$18,892 for Staff Education
$6,500 for Free Children’s Books for Newborns
$782 for Breastfeeding Classes
With your support, PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation has recently distributed $362,869 to support outstanding care for women and children in our community.
Photo above: The beautiful tri-panel mural you see upon entering the childbirth center was made possible by the family of Julie MacPhee, a beloved nurse who served St. Joseph’s childbirth center for many years. In memory of Julie, the family also provides a free children’s book to every baby born at St. Joseph.
The Power of Your Giving
$362,869 in recent fund distributions 2,000 or more babies delivered each year and steadily growing
$336,695 in new equipment purchased for the childbirth center
Your heartfelt dedication to the health of your community is evident with every gift you make.
Breastfeeding Classes and Free Breastmilk Program
Breastmilk is both food and medicine for babies. It provides critical immunobiological and developmental components that cannot be replicated in formula.
Breastfeeding is a learned skill for mom and baby. Your gifts enable us to hold breastfeeding classes to educate new moms about positioning, latching, and other related topics.
Additionally, PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation has committed $1,200 per month to purchase banked breastmilk for at-risk babies when it is not possible for their mothers to nurse them.
Thank you for helping precious little ones get the best possible start in life!
Improving Care for the Youngest
In 2021, generous donors made it possible to purchase six new Giraffe Omnibeds. These all-in-one incubator systems are enabling our interdisciplinary team of caregivers to stabilize and fully care for newborns 32 weeks gestational age and greater, taking full advantage of our NICU Level II licensure. Before this philanthropic investment, St. Joseph could only care for infants 34 weeks gestation and greater in our Special Care Nursery.
Your contributions are also helping us to educate and train our staff to care for these younger premature infants. Specialty care training was needed for our pediatric and newborn respiratory care team, nutritionists, pharmacy staff and others.
Operating to the fullest extent of our Level II licensure is making it possible to keep these tiny newborns close to home until they can safely live at home. Your gift of critical care close to home is priceless!
We are very much looking forward to the opening of our new, expanded childbirth center in the Peter Paulsen Pavilion. Our goal is to pursue NICU Level III licensure at that time, in order to continue advancing our levels of newborn care. Construction on the new pavilion will begin after the new parking garage (currently under construction) is open and ready for business.
PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation