In January 2019, Troy Fuentes came into this world four months too early and fighting for his life. His mom, Cristal Fuentes started having a complication during her pregnancy called preeclampsia — characterized by high blood pressure and other organ complications.

In order to save her and her baby’s life, doctors at Community Regional Medical Center made the decision to deliver baby Troy at just 24 weeks gestation (about 15 weeks before the full-term gestation of 39-40 weeks). Troy then spent a total of 14 months in Community Regional’s neonatal and pediatric intensive care units.

Today, Troy is a thriving and happy four-year-old and his family credits Community’s integrated health care delivery system for the life-saving care it provided both mom and baby.

“I remember there were doctors that would come in — not even taking care of Troy — but they would come in and check on him,” Cristal said. “Everyone there knew Troy. It was nice that everyone cared for, not only him, but our family.”

During his 418 days at Community Regional, Troy required 24-hour care from a team of pediatric specialists.

“He had a neonatologist when he was in the NICU and then he had a pediatric intensivist once he was in the PICU (pediatric intensive care),” neonatal ICU nurse Laura Enriquez explained. “And he required nurses, respiratory therapists, dieticians, and we had a lot of physicians on consult as well because he had such a broad span of diagnosis.”

Troy’s doctors, nurses and therapists collaborated as he transitioned care from the NICU to the PICU after turning one and again with his outpatient care team after going home.

Troy continues to receive treatment at Community today and will for years to come because of the complications that often come with extremely premature births — allowing him to grow through all stages of life.

“Why Troy is here now is because of the care and love that they gave him,” said Cristal.

Learn more about Troy’s story and how care teams within Community collaborate for the best possible patient outcomes.