(Lynwood, CA) – St. Francis Medical Center is pleased to announce that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) and UCI Health for coverage of the St. Francis Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and high-risk deliveries. 
Approximately one-third of maternity patients at St. Francis struggle with diabetes, obesity, or hypertension, conditions which can lead to premature births. This partnership helps to ensure that moms and babies requiring specialized services have access to all of the resources needed for their care.
The nationally recognized CHOC/UCI program provides neonatal intensive care and maternal-fetal medicine services, including high quality, advanced care for women with complex pregnancies and critically ill infants throughout Southern California. The new partnership ensures that the highest level of care is being provided to every newborn in the St. Francis Medical Center NICU, with access to the latest treatments in maternal fetal medicine. Through this affiliation, more than 70 board certified neonatologists, newborn hospitalists and high-risk OBs are accessible through in-person and virtual consults, providing parents in the community that extra care that the St. Francis Level II NICU is able to offer.
Dr. Rebecca Coleman serves at the Neonatal Medical Director of the St. Francis NICU in partnership with CHOC/UCI. Dr. Coleman is double board certified in Pediatrics and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine.
Through this partnership, St. Francis Medical Center is further enhancing the quality care it provides to moms-to-be and their newborns, ensuring that even the tiniest patients have the healthiest and best start in life.
About St. Francis Medical Center: St. Francis Medical Center is one of the leading comprehensive healthcare institutions serving Southeast Los Angeles. A member of Prime Healthcare, St. Francis is dedicated to providing vital health care services for the 700,000 adults and 300,000 children who count on the hospital for high quality and compassionate medical care. St. Francis is recognized for its full range of diagnostic and treatment services in specialties including Cardiovascular, Surgical, Orthopedics, Maternal-Child Health, and Trauma and its broad array of outreach programs. St. Francis Medical Center is an Approved Primary Stroke Care Center and STEMI Receiving Center for Los Angeles County.
