Celebrating 30 years of South Bay babies

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Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center’s Women’s and Infants’ Services department safely gathered to celebrate and honor their 30-year anniversary.

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Donovan Chu, the first baby born at Sharp Chula Vista, helped mark the weeklong anniversary celebration for the Women's and Infants' Services unit.

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Donovan and his father, Al Chu, were interviewed by local news channels, discussing his landmark birth.

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Donovan was welcomed to the halls of Sharp Chula Vista by dedicated caregivers and staff of the Women's and Infants' Services unit.

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Donovan represents the start of a journey that would welcome close to 80,000 babies into the world for the next 30 years.

On Valentine’s Day in 1992, the very first baby was born at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center. The birth of Donovan Chu marked the beginning of a journey that would welcome close to 80,000 babies into the world over the next 30 years.

Past and present doctors, nurses and medical staff gathered in Sharp Chula Vista’s Women’s and Infants’ Services unit to celebrate the 30th anniversary of delivering on their promise to provide compassionate care to expectant mothers and infants in San Diego’s South Bay. The day was filled with memories, history and community — everything one could ask for when a new baby arrives.

Reminiscing about the past
Dr. Francisco Anguiano, a board-certified OBGYN affiliated with Sharp Chula Vista, was there during the early days of the Women’s and Infants’ unit. He reminisced about the level of care that has been unparalleled for the last three decades.

“It has been a privilege to be a part of Sharp’s forward-thinking growth and furthering its commitment to providing the very best care for women and infants in South San Diego,” says Dr. Anguiano. “I have so much gratitude thinking of the many babies we have welcomed into the world and who were cared for by our amazing and dedicated staff over the years.”

Christine Basiliere, RN, the former chief nursing officer at Sharp Chula Vista, was present at Donovan’s birth, working as a labor and delivery nurse. She recalls it was an all-hands effort, as she and her fellow nurses cleaned the floors of the unit. A few doctors remember notifying on-call anesthesiologists to come into the hospital for a procedure, along with the camaraderie that still exists between the care teams. Today, Sharp Chula Vista has an in-house anesthesiologist 24/7 to attend to deliveries.

Looking to the future
While much has changed since 1992, the steady increase in the number of births led to the unit’s recent expansion and renovation, as well as expanded services. Patients now have access to many of the best, multilingual specialty care doctors, nurses and clinicians. This includes access to attentive neonatologists and respiratory therapists for the tiniest infants needing specialized care in the hospital’s Level II NICU. Patients also can enjoy comfortable, private patient rooms, and virtual childbirth education classes and support groups available in English and Spanish. And a new spacious, modern lobby welcomes patients’ loved ones.

The weeklong anniversary celebration ended with a surprise visit from Donovan himself, now 30 years old, whose history is intertwined with the hospital’s. A 1992 newspaper clipping of Donovan and his family is part of the main entryway’s history wall, which celebrates decades of caring for the community.

As a welcoming and warm space designed with moms and babies in mind, Sharp Chula Vista is excited to care for many more expectant mothers and infants in the South Bay for many more decades to come.

Learn more about women's and infants’ services at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center.