Access & Transport Center

My Child Has Just Been Transported – Now What?

Your child may be transferred to Miller Children’s & Women’s with the help of our dedicated Access & Transport ProgramCenter. Here are a few important things to keep in mind as you arrive:

When You Arrive

Check in at the security desk in the Miller Children’s lobby for a visitor badge. You will be given additional visiting information and a brief orientation by your bedside nurse that is specific to the NICU, PICU or general pediatricsyour child’s unit. Click here for a map of Miller Children’s & Women’s.

Staying Overnight

We encourage a parent or partner-in-care to stay at the bedside, if they wish.

Another option for families staying at Miller Children’s & Women’s is the Southern California Ronald McDonald House®, which serve as “homes-away-from-home” for families of children undergoing treatment for cancer and other life-threatening illnesses at nearby hospitals and medical facilities, and is adjacent to Miller Children’s & Women’s. They provide inexpensive, and often free, lodging for families who travel long distances while their children undergo treatment.

• $10 deposit required
• $25 - $35/night

Reservations are made through your child’s care team. For more information, please call  
(562) 285-4300.

Visiting & Safety Policies

General visiting hours are from 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.

We encourage parents to be with their children as often as possible. However, for the safety and security of our patients, parents, visitors and care teams, we ask that you help us by following our visiting guidelines. These guidelines are designed to promote a safe environment where children can get well faster and with fewer complications.

• We provide medical information to parents or legal guardians only.
• Any visitor entering the hospital will be required to check-in at the information desk with a friendly representative.
  • A parent/guardian of a patient will be issued a “parent” badge to aid in their multiple entries to the hospital during their child’s stay.
  • All visitors (18+) must provide a valid government-issued photo ID at check-in, and will be issued a “visitor” badge that must be renewed each day they visit the hospital.
  • All badges must be visible.

Please comply with the guidelines and requests made by your child’s care team while visiting.

For more information, please refer to our visiting guidelines.

Parking

The visitor parking garage and lot – located off Memorial Medical Center Dr. and Atlantic Ave. – is open 24-hours a day, seven-days a week, including holidays. For more information on rates and extended parking passes, please visit our parking information page.

Parent Guide

The Transport Access & Transport Program Center at Miller Children's & Women’s has a Parent Guide available for download in English and Spanish.

To ensure the safety of our smallest patients, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Miller Children’s & Women’s has a dedicated transport program team available 24/7. A skilled team of qualified physicians and nurses go to other nearby hospitals when a baby is in need of specialized newborn care to transport the patient to Miller Children's & Women's.

The NICU at Miller Children’s & Women’s has an expert care team that specializes in the care of premature and critically ill babies. The NICU is designated level IV, meaning it meets strict state regulatory criteria to provide the highest regional level of care for very sick infants who need immediates care. Miller Children’s provides an expert NICU care team specializes in the care of premature and critically ill babies. The NICU is designated level III, meaning it meets strict state regulatory criteria to provide the highest level of care for very sick infants who need immediate surgery, or weight less than two pounds.

• Miller Children’s & Women’s NICU is one of the largest in California, with an expert team of clinicians that continuously provide the best care for premature or sick full-term babies. The team of physicians, nurses, therapists and staff are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to care for the most critically ill newborns who are transferred for higher level medical and surgical treatments.
• The NICU is committed to providing the best nutrition for babies. With lactation consultants and educators who are also registered nurses with many years of NICU experience, these experts are available to help each mom provide breast milk to her baby during their hospitalization, and beyond.
• Miller Children’s & Women’s and the March of Dimes® have collaborated to provide our NICU Parent Mentor Program to help support families during their hospital stay.
• The NICU has specialized programs to treat the unique needs of sick newborns. Whether it is therapeutic hypothermia with whole-body cooling, high-frequency ventilation, or minimally invasive surgery, the specially trained and dedicated team will be there for you and your little one.

The Small Baby Center cares for the largest number of the tiniest newborns in the region. More than 25 community hospitals refer their sickest patients to Miller Children’s & Women’s, and more than 1,000 families each year trust its NICU for the care of their newborn babies.The NICU offers in-house neonatologists available 24/7.

To ensure the safety of our patients, the Cherese Mari Laulhere Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Miller Children’s & Women’s has a dedicated transport program team available 24/7. A skilled team of qualified physicians and nurses go to other nearby hospitals when a child is in need of specialized pediatric care to transport the patient to Miller Children’s & Women’s.

The PICU at Miller Children’s & Women’s is a nationally recognized leader in pediatric critical care. Whether your time in our PICU is planned, or the result of a sudden, urgent need, having your child admitted to the PICU can be difficult. The physical, psychological and social needs are assessed on admission, as well as continuously during your hospital stay. The unit also is designed to enable all patients, and their families, to have visual accessibility of a nurse at all times.The PICU at is a nationally recognized leader in pediatric critical care. The PICU provides the best patient and family care, staffed by board-certified intensive care specialists, critical care nurses and trained respiratory specialists available 24/7.

• Miller Children’s & Women’s is a level II trauma center and admits patients with a wide variety of traumatic injuries. The 30-bed PICU provides care to more than 1,300 toddlers, children, teens and young adults each year who become critically ill or injured and may require constant specialized monitoring.
• Miller Children’s & Women’s is ranked nationally in the top 10 percentile for preventing hospital-acquired infections. Our PICU was built with evidence-based design to prevent infection.
• The PICU is recognized for its state-of-the-art therapies in head traumas, respiratory disorders and pediatric cardiac surgery. Equipped with advanced technology, our dedicated care team speeds up recovery time by minimizing disability and relieving pain from critical illness and injury.
• A dedicated Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (commonly referred to as CTICU) inside the PICU is staffed 24/7 by on-site board-certified pediatric intensivists, registered nurses and respiratory care practitioners with special training and skills to care for critically ill children that are recovering from surgery, cardiac catheterization and serious heart conditions.

Thanks to parent input, the PICU underwent an expansion that moves away from the standard feel of an intensive care unit. It envelopes a warm, calming and soothing feel, ensuring that maximum healing can occur. Our newly renovated unit features complete private rooms with pull-out parent beds, personal nursing stations, a child-friendly family area and more.

To ensure your safety and the safety of your baby, the Cherese Mari Laulhere Birth Care Center at Miller Children’s & Women’s has a dedicated High-Risk Maternal/Fetal Transport Program available 24/7. A skilled team of doctors and nurses specializing in high-risk pregnancies help to safely transport you and your baby to the BirthCare Center.

The BirthCare Center is a dedicated center just for women, providing compassionate, quality health care during pregnancy. It offers a comprehensive program of research, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, educational resources, maternity classes and individual and family support programs all under the same roof. Our transported moms will stay in the Perinatal Special Care Unit (PSCU).

• The Perinatal Special Care Unit houses maternal fetal specialists, neonatologists and
  anesthesiologists 24/7.
  • The PSCU care team monitors the health of mom and baby, reviews any advanced tests or ultrasounds that may be needed and offers counseling. Treatment for problems in pregnancy ranges from weekly or monthly ultrasound monitoring to complex IV infusions and medication management.
• Equipped with the latest monitoring technology, but designed to provide a peaceful environment. Private rooms give families their own space, since many women faced with a high-risk pregnancy may stay for several days or weeks, sometimes even months before birth.