A cacophony of beeps flood the room, but the sound of babies cooing serves as a reminder that the beeping is a sign of new technology — and new life.

The new $4 million Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital opened Oct. 15 to serve as the second NICU in the Coachella Valley and the only facility of its kind to serve the eastern desert cities.

In its first few weeks, the facility is already more than 50 percent occupied with seven babies, including two sets of twins.

“We have roughly the same number of births — between 250 to 300 deliveries a month — at this end of the valley as in the opposite end,” said Director of Maternal Services Donna McCloudy. “And whenever you see that number of births, you're expecting a percentage that are premature or have some problems, so having this service here enables us to provide the appropriate care right on site as opposed to transferring the baby. That was the reason for us to open this facility.”

And though Desert Regional Medical Center's NICU, which opened in 1990, has grown to provide 30 beds, the addition of JFK Memorial's 11 beds helps spread out the demand.

“We are now better maximizing all the services that are available in the valley,” said McCloudy, known to some of her colleagues as the “Valley NICU Queen.”

During her career she has opened four NICU facilities, one in Houston, Texas, and three in California, including the two in the Coachella Valley.

The NICU cares for critical newborns such as premature babies, infants with birth defects, babies that can't eat on their own or have difficulty breathing. The unit also has an isolation room available for babies that need to be separated from their mother in case she has H1N1, tuberculosis or any other ailment that may pose a risk to the child, McCloudy said.

Prior to its opening, unstable babies delivered at JFK Memorial were sent to Desert Regional Medical Center or Loma Linda University Children's Hospital.

“I would say that probably 50 percent of the babies we got at Desert were from JFK,” said NICU manager Amy Headings, who had worked at Desert Regional's unit for 10 years. “So having a unit here makes a big difference, especially for the parents.”

Elda Chaidez, 31, and Efrain Bojorquez, 42, both of Indio agreed. The parents of newborn twin boys — Daniel and David — said they are thankful they didn't have to move their sons to the Palm Springs unit to get the care they needed.

“We know they're very well taken care of here,” Chaidez said.

The NICU has 42 staff members to care for the babies around the clock, which includes six respiratory therapists and nurses and specialized physicians shared with Desert Regional Medical Center, Headings said.

Cliff Daniels, associate administrator at Desert Regional Medical Center, said the two NICUs “complement each other” and, with shared physicians, offer “good coordination of care” for the critical babies of the valley.

“Having the unit on the east side provides a more convenient access point for the sick babies in need of NICU care,” he said. “But Desert will always be here to provide a higher level of care if they need it.”

Babies that require more than four hours on a ventilator will continue to be transferred to Desert Regional Medical Center while infants in need of surgery will still be sent to Loma Linda University Children's Hospital.

McCloudy calls it the “best of both worlds.”

“Having a baby in NICU is already a challenge on so many levels and we want to keep them as close to the family as possible,” McCloudy said. “With this unit here, we are now able to do that.”