The Bradley triplets hold photos of themselves when they were born premature at Sutter Memorial Hospital 10 years ago. They were some of the first patients to be moved to the new Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center on Aug. 8, 2015, and helped Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento celebrate the facility’s 10th anniversary Wednesday.
Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento celebrates a decade of advancing maternity, pediatric care at Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center
When Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento’s new Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center opened its doors on Aug. 8, 2015, expectant mothers and new families were welcomed with the highest standard of maternity and pediatric care in Sacramento. From beginning to end of the birth plan, parents would receive care in spacious suites with their newborn on the top patient floor of midtown Sacramento’s tallest building – maternal-newborn rooms with a view. Then, as their child grew up, parents knew they could continue to receive exceptional care in the same facility.
The Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center is the tallest building in midtown Sacramento, giving new parents and NICU families incredible views of Sacramento and the Valley.
In the past 10 years alone, Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento has welcomed more newborns than in any decade of its 100-year history — 61,605 babies, to be exact. When 161 patients were transferred that August day 10 years ago from the renowned Sutter Memorial Hospital, the moniker of “Sacramento’s baby hospital” came with them.
But the Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center is far more than a place to welcome new life. It houses Northern California’s largest and most advanced neonatal intensive care unit and a high-risk maternity ward where mothers receive round-the-clock care to give their babies a healthy start. It also includes a comprehensive pediatric hospital within its walls, treating children facing complex, cardiac, oncological, neurological and other serious conditions.
“Since opening, the Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center has redefined what exceptional care means for families in our community,” said Rachael McKinney, president of Sutter Health’s Greater Sacramento Division and interim CEO of Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento. “We’re proud to provide not just advanced medical treatments, but a healing environment where mothers and children feel supported, safe and truly cared for every step of their journey. This milestone reflects our commitment to innovation, compassion and the well-being of generations to come.”
As Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center, we look at how the state-of-the-art facility that’s so prominent in the midtown skyline raised the bar for women’s and pediatric healthcare in the Greater Sacramento region.
Huge Donation Helps Build New Hospital
Kristen Thomas, right, is the chair of the Sutter Medical Center Foundation Board and is also a member of the Anderson and Lucchetti families. She spoke at Wednesday’s event. Here she is pictured with the Bradley triplets and their mother, Wendy, and from back left, dad Todd Bradley, Sutter Children’s Center Medical Director Craig Swanson, Sutter Health Greater Sacramento President Rachael McKinney and Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento Women’s and Children’s Center Executive Whitney Clark.
In 2005, the Anderson and Lucchetti families generously committed $18 million to Sutter Health to support the construction of the Women’s and Children’s Center. A decade later, in August 2015, the facility officially began operations, becoming a flagship for Sutter Health and a vital resource for women and children across the region. Today, the center stands not only as a testament to that visionary investment, but also as a powerful reminder of the ongoing opportunity to do more — for our community, for the caregivers who dedicate their lives to caring for others, and for the patients who rely on the exceptional care delivered within its walls, said Kristen Thomas, a member of the Anderson and Lucchetti families and current Sutter Medical Center Foundation Board chair.
Sutter Health is a not-for-profit health system, and donations such as this one help to deliver on its mission to provide high-quality healthcare throughout Northern California. This donation helped establish a groundbreaking facility with comprehensive pediatric and maternity care, solidifying a legacy in regional healthcare philanthropy.
Some Facts on the ‘New’ Women’s and Children’s Center
The Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center opened as a 395,241-square-foot, 242-bed acute-care hospital where patients and their families obtain the highest level of neonatal and pediatric intensive care services, pediatric cardiac, neurological and cancer services, and high-risk and conventional maternity services, as well as other services. Construction costs totaled $821 million.
The Big Move Went Smoothly
The entire region watched as ambulance after ambulance left the 78-year-old Sutter Memorial Hospital and made their way two miles to the expanded Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento campus. They started at midnight with the smallest of them all – the preemies and other fragile babies in the hospital’s famed NICU. All of them were safely transported before the sun rose.
In all, 161 patients – including birth mothers and their babies, high-risk maternal patients, pediatric patients, and adults in the cardiac units and emergency room – safely arrived at the new campus with the last arriving at 5:37 p.m.
It was an effort that took months of planning, and the look of joy on the faces of patients and their family members with their new, state-of-the-art rooms was all worth it.
Some More Baby Facts
In its 100-year history, from the original Sutter Hospital to Sutter Memorial Hospital to the new Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center, the number of babies born total 417,428, more than the population of the city of Sacramento circa the year 2000.
Even the Labor & Delivery rooms in the Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center are spacious and have a very home-like feel. So far, more than 61,000 babies have been born at the facility in its first 10 years.
In Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center’s first 10 years, there have been 1,152 sets of twins, 35 sets of triplets and one set of quadruplets. The smallest baby weighed just 13.6 ounces and the biggest baby weighed 15 pounds, 7.3 ounces.
“Every baby born here represents a unique story of hope, resilience and the extraordinary care that our team is dedicated to providing,” said Whitney Clark, women’s and children’s services executive for Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento. “From the tiniest preemies to the biggest bundles of joy, we are honored to support families through every miracle and milestone.”
Rooms for Moms at High Risk
For 50 years, Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento has been on the forefront of care for women with high-risk pregnancies and their babies, who often need the advanced care of a NICU. To help ensure these babies are delivered as healthy as possible, the high-risk maternity physicians – called perinatologists – help mothers to carry their pregnancies as long as medically safe. Extended hospital stays are common for these mothers, sometimes lasting many weeks or even months, effectively making the hospital their home away from home.
The Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center was built with a special unit designed especially for them. The 21 all-private, spacious rooms allow mothers to relax comfortably, welcome visits from family, and even personalize the space to feel like home.
“Our goal is to support both mother and baby through every step of their high-risk pregnancy, giving them the best chance for a healthy delivery,” said Dr. William Gilbert, Sutter’s longtime perinatologist and women’s service line medical director. “The private, comfortable rooms at Anderson Lucchetti provide a nurturing environment that helps reduce stress and promote healing, making a challenging time a little easier for families.”
Helistop a Lifesaver for Preemies, Mothers
When planning the new hospital, leadership was adamant that it include a helistop for medical emergency helicopters. Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento has earned a reputation throughout Northern California and beyond for its high level of care for premature babies and high-risk mothers, who often need to arrive quickly for specialized treatment.
The helistop on top of the Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center has been a lifesaver for hundreds of families already. To date, more than 1,500 babies and expectant mothers with complicated pregnancies have been transported by medical helicopter to the facility.
“Having the helistop right on the roof means we can get critically ill babies and moms the care they need faster than ever before,” said Dr. Gustavo Sosa, neonatologist and medical director of the NICU. “It’s made a huge impact on how quickly we can respond in emergencies, and that speed can be life-changing. For families facing high-risk situations, this facility offers hope and reassurance when every second matters.”
Providing the Best NICU Care
The Sutter NICU began 51 years ago as one of the first in the nation to provide high-quality care to fragile infants. But as more and more babies needed the advanced services offered at Sutter Memorial Hospital, the NICU outgrew its location.
So, when families came to the new NICU at the Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center, they were in awe. With 61 beds, each in an area that provides privacy for families, it is the largest, one of the most-advanced NICU in Northern California. Even after 10 years, Wendy and Todd Bradley, whose triplets were born two weeks before the move, talk glowingly about the modern NICU with all the most modern equipment.
“We were really impressed by the cutting-edge technology and the family-friendly atmosphere at the Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center,” Wendy Bradley said. “The new NICU’s modern design and spacious rooms gave our family so much more comfort and privacy, which made a world of difference during a stressful time. It truly felt like a place built with families like ours in mind.”
The new NICU was also the first in Northern California to be outfitted with Angel Eye, a camera system that allows parents to check in on their little ones remotely via smartphone or computer and was a game changer during the COVID-19 pandemic. The system was made possible through donations to a nonprofit started by a Sutter NICU family.
World-class Peds Heart Program Includes Pioneering Surgeries
The facility made national headlines when its pediatric heart program successfully performed the first minimally invasive surgeries on little patients. Instead of opening the chest and cracking the sternum, heart surgeons use a pioneering technique that accesses the heart through a small port underneath the armpit. This method helps children grow up without a long chest scar and recover much faster.
Ariel Hernandez was one of the first pediatric patients to receive a minimally invasive heart surgery in the United States. The surgery was pioneered by Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento’s Dr. Nahurito Watanabe.
It is one of the many innovative approaches both pediatric interventional cardiologists and heart surgeons have been using at the new Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center.
Kristal Imbrie’s daughter, Ariel, who has Down syndrome and has appeared in several advertisements, was the first in the nation to undergo the minimally invasive surgery.
“That approach avoided so many complications during recovery — no need to stay still as long, no ribs being cut,” Imbrie said. “Especially for a child with special needs, it meant she could bounce back faster. It was like she was on espresso!”
Pediatric ICU Cares for a Variety of Complex Conditions
The pediatric intensive care unit is equipped to handle a wide range of complex medical conditions, including respiratory failure, sepsis, trauma and complications from chronic illnesses. This specialized unit ensures that children receive the highest level of care during critical times, which includes 20 beds and an additional 10 beds dedicated to pediatric cardiovascular care.
In addition to its core services, the pediatric ICU collaborates closely with other specialized departments within Sutter Children’s Center, such as pediatric neurology and oncology. This integration facilitates comprehensive care for children with complex, multi-system conditions, allowing for coordinated treatment plans that address all aspects of a child’s health.
“At our pediatric ICU, we focus on giving each child the care and attention they need when it matters most,” said Pediatric Critical Care Director Dr. Daniel Falco. “From breathing problems to complex conditions like cancer or neurological issues, our team works closely together to make sure every child gets the right treatment. By teaming up across specialties, we’re able to provide seamless care that supports the whole child and their family through tough times.”
Making Kids Feel at Home While in the Hospital
Sutter Children’s Center is also known for its robust Child Life program that plays a vital role in helping young patients feel more comfortable during their hospital stay. Child Life was incorporated into the new Women’s and Children’s Center with three dedicated playrooms filled with toys, games and creative activities, along with a separate classroom for children who have extended hospital stays to keep up with their schoolwork.
A signature part of Sutter’s Child Life program is its renowned facility dog program, which has grown with the Women’s and Children’s Center. Now with four specially trained “dog-tors” working alongside Child Life specialists, these dogs provide therapeutic support, assist with procedural coping, and facilitate goal-oriented interventions in collaboration with the healthcare team.
“Our Child Life program is about helping each child feel safe and supported throughout their entire hospital journey,” says Manager of Integrated Therapies Sara Anderson, who oversees Child Life. “Whether that’s through bedside play, emotional support or our facility dogs offering comfort, we strive to bring moments of joy and normalcy for every child in the hospital.”
Sophie’s Place Helps Provide Healing Through Harmony
The Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center was just the second pediatric hospital to include a stylized Sophie’s Place music therapy space located inside.
NFL Hall-of-Famer Steve Young and his Forever Young Foundation provided a gift to the new Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center that is a game-changer for the pediatric hospital’s music therapy program. A $150,000 donation helped construct Sophie’s Place, just the second of its kind at the time, dedicated music therapy space inside a hospital. This special space offers young patients a unique and comforting environment where the healing power of music takes center stage.
At Sophie’s Place, trained music therapists work one-on-one and in group settings with children to reduce stress, ease pain, and foster emotional well-being through personalized musical experiences. Whether it’s singing, playing instruments, or simply listening, music therapy provides a creative outlet that helps kids express themselves and find joy even during difficult treatments.
Women’s and Children’s Center Built for the Future
When the Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center was constructed, it was designed with an on the future of healthcare and space to expand. The facility includes flexible space, allowing Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento to build out new services and programs as community needs evolve and medical innovations arise. This approach provides both adaptability and sustainability, so the facility can grow without losing the seamless, family-centered environment that patients and staff rely on.
“We wanted to build a hospital that not only meets today’s standards but anticipates tomorrow’s breakthroughs,” said Craig Swanson, Sutter Children’s Center medical director. “From the infrastructure to the layout, everything was planned so that we can expand, upgrade and innovate without missing a beat, ensuring the highest quality care for generations to come.”
Women’s and Children’s Center Part of Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, which consists of the Ose Adams Medical Pavilion and Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center, is the flagship hospital of the Sutter Health system. It has 523 licensed beds, with dedicated adult and pediatric emergency departments, a comprehensive hospital for children, the largest and highest-level neonatal intensive care unit in Northern California, and nationally renowned institutes for cardiac, neurosciences and oncology care. In 2023, it celebrated its 100th anniversary of providing care for Sacramentans at its campus in midtown’s Sutter District.
