The UC Health Milk Bank has received the Top Honor 2023 Quality Leaders Award from the California Association of Public Hospital and Health Systems, and the California Health Care Safety Net Institute. This prestigious award recognizes an outstanding effort to improve patient care that demonstrates achievement across multiple award categories, including equity, population health, care redesign and innovation.

Opened in 2020, the University of California Health (UCH) Milk Bank is the first milk bank located in San Diego. Operated by UC San Diego Health and located in the San Diego Blood Bank, the non-profit facility provides pasteurized, donated human milk critical for feeding sick or premature infants when parents do not have a sufficient milk supply for their baby’s nutritional needs.

The nonprofit human milk bank serves families in Southern California and statewide through all six UCH academic health centers. It offers UC San Diego Health patients and the community the opportunity to donate and receive donated human milk when needed for optimal nutrition for newborn babies.

Since opening, the UC Health Milk Bank has produced 200,000 ounces of milk and serves 21 hospitals across California. We provided donor milk to 600 families with vulnerable babies in 2022 alone.

0:00 Introduction
0:11 Establishing the Milk Bank
0:43 Support tiniest babies
0:53 Human Milk Better Outcomes
1:25 The Bridge Milk Fund
1:40 Eliminating financial barriers
2:17 Partnering with public hospitals
3:00 Human milk donations by the numbers