R. deLemos; USC Expert in Neonatology
Dr. Robert A. deLemos, a Southern California neonatology expert who helped develop a key ventilator for premature infants, has died. He was 60.
DeLemos, Hastings professor of pediatrics at USC, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. USC officials said Friday that the cause of death was not yet available.
The highly respected physician was head of neonatology at County-USC Medical Center and Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. He was also director of neonatal intensive care at Good Samaritan Hospital.
In his position at County-USC, which serves much of the immigrant population, deLemos often spoke out about political issues affecting his patients.
Last year, when California moved to cut off prenatal care to illegal immigrants, deLemos warned: “The dollars saved by excluding these women from programs that provide prenatal care will be offset thousands of times over by the medical costs of caring for their infants and the loss of tax revenues to the state.â€
Before he came to USC in 1991, deLemos was based in San Antonio, where he served as chairman of the physiology department at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research. He helped test the Model 3100 High Frequency Oscillatory Ventilator, marketed since 1991 by SensorMedics Corp. Unlike older machines, the special ventilator can aid the smallest and most premature babies.
“I think it will save babies’ lives. Every nursery in the country sees babies who will benefit from this ventilator,†deLemos told The Times when the device received Food and Drug Administration approval. He had tested the ventilator in his work at Wilfrid Hall Medical Center in San Antonio.
A colonel in the Air Force, DeLemos was chief of pediatric services at March Air Force Base near Riverside in the mid-1960s and for many years at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. He had also served as neonatal consultant to the Air Force surgeon general.
Born in New York City, DeLemos was educated at Amherst College and Harvard Medical School.
He is survived by his wife, seven children and three grandchildren.
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