SCVMC Screens Newborns for Heart Defects
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It is estimated that about 1 in every 100 newborns in the United States—or 40,000 of 4.1 million newborns each year—is born with a structural defect of the heart. Some of these defects are relatively benign and may show up later in life, but others can be critical and require medical and surgical attention in the early newborn period. Full Story >> |
Extraordinary Nurses Recognized at SCVMC
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Nurses at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center have been honored with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. The award, presented in collaboration with the American Organization of Nurse Executives, is part of The DAISY Foundation's program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day. Full Story >>
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eLEGS Wearable Robot Being Tested at SCVMC
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An evolving technology is giving hope to patients that have been paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. While not a cure, it does offer them a chance to step out of their wheelchairs and walk. For rehab patient Stephanie Sablan, 24, she is taking the first steps in getting her life back." Full Story >>
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Valley Med Construction Moves Forward
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The first phase of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center’s major overhaul is well under way. The $966 million construction project, which will retrofit the hospital and medical buildings on the main campus at 551 S. Bascom Ave. in San Jose, is being funded by a bond measure approved by Santa Clara County voters in 2008. The second phase, which will cost an estimated $419 million, includes the construction of a 140-bed building. Full Story >> |
SCVMC Receives High Score in U.S News & World Report's Best Hospital Ranking
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Santa Clara Valley Medical Center has received the second highest score for the San Jose metropolitan area in U.S. News & World Report's first-ever Best Hospitals metro area rankings. Only Stanford Hospital ranked higher in our community. The new rankings recognize 622 hospitals in or near major cities with a record of high performance in key medical specialties, including 132 of the 152 hospitals already identified as the best in the nation. There are nearly 5,000 hospitals nationwide. Full Story >>
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Diabetes Center Recognized by American Diabetes Association
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The Diabetes Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center has received the prestigious American Diabetes Association (ADA) Education Recognition Certificate for having an excellent diabetes self-management education program. The certificate is awarded to programs that offer high-quality education, which is an essential component of effective diabetes treatment. Full Story >> |
SCVMC & Stanford Join First Human Embryonic - Stem - Cell - Therapy Clinical Trial  |
Today, Stanford University School of Medicine and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center became the third site to participate in a clinical trial of cells derived from human embryonic stem cells, which will enroll up to 10 patients with spinal cord injuries at up to seven institutions nationwide. Full Story >>
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Bionic Hand Helps San Jose Man Reclaim His Life
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Johnny Nguyen of San Jose received a hand Thursday, and a more coveted, symbolic or useful gift couldn't be imagined. The ProDigits prosthetic hand wasn't a Christmas present. But it represents a gift of friendship that seemed destined to bear fruit amid the giving season. For the first time since he nearly died five years ago in a car crash, Nguyen, 24, will be able to pick up a penny or turn a doorknob. Full Story >> |
In an emergency, newborn brought to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
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Quick action by two Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies is being credited with saving a newborn's life. Deputies, Rick Chaeff and Mike Laddy, were at a coffee shop Monday morning when a woman came in saying her granddaughter was not breathing. Laddy and Chaeff called for emergency crews and rushed outside to help. Full Story >> |
Student Stays Strong, Graduates on Time Despite Spinal Tumor
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It started with pain in her neck – a pain that would not go away, even after a trip to the chiropractor. Then it progressed to falling down the stairs, sometimes 12 or 15 times a day. Last April, her legs gave out when she tried to stand up out of bed. A few hours later, she was fine. But on Angelica Galang’s 21st birthday, she was in so much pain that she was unable to go on any rides at Disneyland. It was then that the fourth-year communication studies student decided to fly home to Northern California to get an MRI, since she thought she had a slipped disk in her vertebrae. Full Story >> |
Fun Center  |
On Tuesday, February 23, 2010, Colgate-Palmolive, Mi Pueblo Food Center and Starlight Children’s Foundation placed a Fun Center in VMC's Pediatrics Department for all pediatric patients to enjoy. Full Story >> |
A Gift For Edgar
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Edgar Flores wants to be a doctor when he grows up. And what is it exactly that doctors do? "They poke," he tells me. "And they help children." Five-year-old Edgar has become quite an expert on doctors. After a car fire in July 2007 left him burned over 85 percent of his body, he spent five months in the burn unit at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and had 16 operations. Several times, his doctors didn't think he would make it. But Edgar had too many plans to give up. Full Story >> |
Survivor 
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Hugs, squeals of joy and lots of laughter filled the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center burn unit as former patient Dave McNabb, who holds the record for length of stay in the burn center, made a visit with his parents last week. After more than 17 months in the hospital's Regional Burn Center, McNabb and his parents developed relationships with the center's staff. "It feels like a family reunion," laughed nursing supervisor Jill Sproul. Full Story >> |
Green Building Project  |
SCVMC’s new hospital bed building is part of the medical center’s Green Building Project and is being designed and built to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification Full Story >> |
Sofia's Story  |
Shortly after midnight on June 15, 2007, Sofia Delaney was delivered by caesarian section at O’ Connor Hospital in San Jose, California. Sofia’s parents, Christian and George, anxiously waited to hear her cry but there was only silence. The birth triggered a “Code Blue” in the hospital, alerting staff to an immediate life-threatening emergency. Sofia was not breathing, but no one could figure out why. She was resuscitated and spent the next two days on a ventilator in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Full Story >> |
Journey to Recovery Program: A Case Study 
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Maria is an 18-year-old woman who was an unrestrained passenger in a sports utility vehicle that overturned on a highway. There were other injured adults and a fatality in the accident. Maria’s initial Glasgow Coma Scale score was six, and she had some flexion posturing at the scene. On admission, CT head scans showed diffused subarachnoid and intraventricular hemorrhages as well as right temporal, caudate and putaminal contusions. She also sustained bilateral stable pelvic fractures, a left clavicular fracture and pulmonary contusions. Full Story >> |
Burn Victim Helps Thos Like Her. Nurse Encourages Fellow Survivors 
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Jill Sproul doesn't mind if you ask her, "What happened to your face?" Nurse manager at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center's burn unit for 11 years, she's used to explaining how a fire ravaged her body, burned her sweatshirt into her chest and virtually destroyed her nose and eyelids. The scar tissue forms an uneven constellation across her face. It's the face burn patients are likely to see when they're admitted to Valley Medical, one of only four burn units left in Northern California. Today, the center treats 250 patients a year, 100 more than its average five years ago. Full Story >> |
Joseph Cerros's Story  |
Joseph Cerros is 51 years of age and lives in a two-story house in downtown San Jose with his wife Liane and their two daughters. As a self-employed building maintenance worker for many years, he was feeling the effects of the Great Recession. The loss of his income was taking its toll. While trying to survive off of what savings he was able to tuck away, they took a look at their family budget and decided they would have to cut where they could. They decided to drop their health insurance. It was his first time in all of his life that Joseph had ever been without health insurance. And that’s just when it happened. Full Story >> |
New Valley Specialty Center Opened  |
The completion of the 244,000 square foot Valley Specialty Center, the newest building on the VMC campus, is a critical step in meeting the current and future healthcare needs of Santa Clara County. Full Story >> |
NICU Awards  |
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center earned an Honorable Mention in the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems 2012 Gage Awards for focusing on hypothermia in very low birth weight infants. Full Story >> |
Health Living Program 
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Unlike most programs aimed at helping patients with chronic illnesses, the Healthier Living Program at SCVMC is mainly led by patients themselves. Staffed by the SCVMC patient association HELP - Health, Empowerment, Leadership People – the program helps people with chronic health problems and their significant others. People with different health problems attend classes together. Full Story >> |