HARLINGEN, Texas - When Rio Grande Guardian heath reporter Julia Rodriguez interviewed Rita Goodarzi, director of Valley Baptist-Harlingen’s 38-bed New born Intensive Care Unit, she said she knows people her age that were born in the NICU.
Goodarzi said she can top that. She proceeded to tell an amazing story.
“Twenty years ago, we delivered a set of twins, preemie twins that were in here. They were 24-week twins. Last year, I got an application for a nurse. So I interviewed her and she did fine. I was going to hire her and then some of the nurses started talking and they said, you know who that is right? I said no. Twenty years ago, she was a baby, a 24-weeker in here. And they were twins, her and her brother were 24-week twins. Her brother is now an engineer and she is a nurse in the NICU.”
Goodarzi added: “She came to work for us after she'd been our baby. So we still call her baby.”
Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen is a Level III NICU. It has been caring for region’s tiniest and most vulnerable patients for many years.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, to be certified as a Level III NBICU by the state, a facility must provide care for mothers and comprehensive care of their infants of all gestational ages with mild to critical illnesses or requiring sustained life support in addition to providing consultation to a wide array of pediatric sub specialists and pediatric surgical specialists.
Goodarzi has been serving patients throughout the Valley since the early 1980s. She said her unit plays a vital role for the Harlingen community and its outlying areas.
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