Kaiser Permanente Panorama City Medical Center Birth Injury Lawyers

This page is for families who welcomed a baby at Kaiser Permanente Panorama City Medical Center in Panorama City, in Los Angeles County, California, and who now have questions about how the delivery went or about a diagnosis their child received afterward. Perhaps your baby needed time in the neonatal intensive care unit. Perhaps a doctor has mentioned cerebral palsy, a brain injury, or a nerve injury in the arm. Or perhaps you simply feel that something about the birth was never fully explained to you. Wanting answers is natural, and you are not alone.

Most deliveries at any hospital end well, and many birth injuries are minor and heal with little or no treatment. This guide is written to help you understand your options, not to point a finger at the hospital or at anyone who cared for you. We explain, in plain words, what the common birth injuries are, which warning signs to watch for, who can be involved in a birth-injury claim in general, how an independent review of a delivery works, and what practical steps a parent can take now, such as asking for the medical records.

Beverly Law offers this information for parents and guardians in Panorama City, the San Fernando Valley and the rest of Los Angeles County. It is general education and not legal advice for your situation. Because this hospital is part of Kaiser Permanente, a few steps work differently than at other hospitals, and we point those out along the way. A short, free conversation with a lawyer is the best way to learn how the rules apply to your family.

Labor and delivery at Kaiser Permanente Panorama City Medical Center

Kaiser Permanente lists Panorama City Medical Center on its website as a Southern California hospital for maternity care, with pages for labor and delivery, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and recovery after childbirth. The website gives the medical center's address as 13651 Willard Street, Panorama City, CA 91402 and its main number as 818-375-2000. The hospital's report to the state lists the site at 13652 Cantara Street. The hospital is operated by Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, a nonprofit organization, and it mainly serves Kaiser Permanente members from the northeast San Fernando Valley and nearby communities.

According to the hospital's 2024 report to the state (HCAI), the nursery cared for 2,067 newborns during the year. The same report lists 24 licensed intensive-care newborn beds and 260 NICU discharges in 2024. Kaiser describes its NICU as a high-tech nursery with specially trained doctors, nurses and support staff who care for babies born sick or early, around the clock. We have not found a NICU level stated on the hospital's own pages, so we do not give one here.

These numbers are shared only to give you a picture of the unit, not to say anything about any particular birth. Many babies spend a short time in the NICU for reasons that have nothing to do with how labor went, such as early birth, breathing trouble or low blood sugar. If your baby was in the NICU, the notes written there are part of the record and can be very useful later.

Birth injuries families ask about after a difficult delivery

Doctors use the term birth injury for harm to a baby that happens around labor and delivery. Cleveland Clinic lists many types, from common and usually minor ones, such as a broken collarbone, scalp swelling or bruising, to rarer and more serious ones, such as brain bleeds, skull fractures and brain damage from oxygen deprivation. It notes that most birth injuries are minor and heal with little or no treatment, but some are serious and need prompt care. This section is general medical information and is not about this hospital.

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, or HIE, is a brain injury caused by too little oxygen and blood flow to the baby's brain. Babies with HIE may be limp, have seizures or need help breathing, and cooling treatment is sometimes used in the NICU. Cerebral palsy is a group of conditions that affect movement, balance and posture. The CDC explains that it results from abnormal development or damage to the developing brain before, during or soon after birth, and that in many cases a specific cause is never found. The NICHD adds that lack of oxygen is one of several possible causes, along with infections, fetal stroke and brain bleeding. Because causes are often mixed, a careful review of the records matters.

Erb's palsy, also called brachial plexus birth injury, happens when the nerves running from the neck to the arm are stretched or damaged, often when a baby's shoulder is hard to deliver. A baby may hold one arm still or limp. Other conditions families ask about include newborn brain bleeds, skull or clavicle fractures, serious infections such as group B strep (GBS), and injuries to the mother, such as heavy bleeding after delivery (hemorrhage). Each of these can have natural causes, and each can also be a sign that something should be looked at more closely.

Warning signs of a birth injury in the first days, weeks and months

In the first days, parents may notice that a baby is unusually sleepy or hard to wake, has trouble feeding, cries in a weak or high-pitched way, has seizures or jerking movements, breathes with difficulty, or does not move one arm or leg. Cleveland Clinic lists bruising or swelling, not moving a body part, feeding difficulty, hoarse or noisy breathing and unusual irritability among the symptoms of birth injuries, and advises emergency care for shortness of breath, lethargy, pale or cold skin, no wet diapers for 12 hours or more, or refusing feeds. If you see any of these, seek medical care right away.

In the first weeks and months, the signs are often about development. The CDC says that babies under six months with cerebral palsy may have a head that lags when lifted, feel stiff or floppy, or have legs that stiffen and cross. After six months, signs include not rolling over, trouble bringing the hands together, or reaching with only one hand. Some babies without cerebral palsy show these signs too, and the main clue is a delay in reaching milestones such as rolling over, sitting and walking.

Trust what you see. Write down dates, what you noticed and what each doctor said, and keep any discharge papers. The CDC notes that a parent can contact the early intervention program directly, without waiting for a referral or a diagnosis. A late diagnosis does not close any door, but early help and early records gathering both make things easier.

Who may be responsible in a birth-injury claim?

Birth is a team effort, and a claim can involve several people and organizations. Depending on the facts, those who may be involved include the labor and delivery nurses and other hospital staff, the obstetrician, a midwife, the anesthesia team, the neonatologist or pediatrician who cared for the baby afterward, and the medical group or the hospital that employs them. Whether anyone is responsible at all depends on the records and on expert review, and many bad outcomes are nobody's fault.

One important question is who employed each person. Some doctors are employees of the hospital or its affiliated medical group, while others are independent physicians with their own practice who simply use the hospital. That difference can change who is named in a claim and which insurance applies. Kaiser Permanente is an integrated system in which the health plan, the hospitals and the medical groups work closely together, so it can take some effort to sort out who was responsible for what.

For families who delivered as Kaiser members, there is another feature. Kaiser members usually agree to binding arbitration for care disputes, which is a different path than a jury trial. We explain this further below. Every family's facts are different, so the best way to know who may be involved in your case is to have the records reviewed.

How an independent expert review of a delivery works

A review begins with the records. The reviewer reads the prenatal chart, the labor notes, the fetal heart monitoring strips (the tracing of the baby's heartbeat during labor), the medication and anesthesia records, the delivery summary and the newborn notes. The fetal monitoring strips often matter most, because they show how the baby tolerated labor and when the care team saw changes.

Next, the reviewer looks at objective measures of how the baby was doing at birth. These include Apgar scores at one and five minutes, umbilical cord blood gas results that show acid levels in the baby's blood, the baby's first hours of NICU notes, and later tests such as brain MRI, EEG and head ultrasound. Together they help show whether the baby had a lack of oxygen, how severe it was and when it may have started, or whether the cause was something else, such as an infection or a condition present before labor.

The people who do this work are usually physicians in the same field, such as obstetrics, neonatology or pediatric neurology, along with nurses. They answer two basic questions: did the care meet accepted medical standards, and, if not, did that cause the injury. A review does not commit you to a lawsuit. Sometimes the answer is that the care was appropriate, and that is valuable for a family to know as well.

What to do now: step by step

First, take care of your child. Keep up with every appointment, therapy and follow-up, and ask the doctors to explain the diagnosis in plain language. Write down questions as they come to you. Second, begin a folder, on paper or on your phone, with discharge papers, bills, test results, photos and a short timeline of what happened from pregnancy through today.

Third, request the full medical records for both mother and baby from the hospital. Ask for the complete labor and delivery chart, including the fetal monitoring strips, and the complete NICU chart. Do not wait for a lawyer to do this, and do not worry that asking will upset anyone, because requesting records is an ordinary right of a parent. Fourth, avoid posting details about the birth on social media and avoid signing anything from an insurer without understanding it.

Fifth, talk with a lawyer early. California sets strict deadlines for these claims, and a written notice is required before a medical malpractice lawsuit, so waiting can limit your choices even when a child has more time than an adult. Beverly Law can explain which deadlines apply to your family, help gather the records and arrange an independent medical review. The first conversation is free, and you decide what happens next.

Support for your child while a case is reviewed

Your child's care should not wait for any legal question. Depending on the diagnosis, a care team can include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and feeding therapy, vision and hearing checks, and specialists in neurology and orthopedics. Many children do best when therapy starts early, so ask your child's doctor for referrals.

For children under three, California's Early Start program offers evaluations and services for babies with delays or conditions that can lead to delays. Early Start is run through regional centers, and the North Los Angeles County Regional Center is the one listed for Panorama City and the San Fernando Valley. You can ask for an evaluation yourself.

Families may also look into Medi-Cal and California Children's Services (CCS), which can help pay for care for children with certain serious medical conditions. Eligibility depends on your income and your child's diagnosis, so ask a social worker at the hospital or your child's doctor. No program can promise a particular result, but using the help available now is good for your child and does not affect your right to ask questions about the birth.

Kaiser members: arbitration instead of a jury

Kaiser Permanente works differently from most hospitals. Kaiser’s own member materials explain that members agree to binding arbitration instead of a jury or court trial for certain matters, that a member who believes their care was negligent can ask for binding arbitration, and that the arbitrator’s decision is binding on both the member and Kaiser Permanente. These arbitrations are run by a neutral Office of the Independent Administrator (oia-kaiserarb.com), not by Kaiser. For a family who delivered at a Kaiser hospital as Kaiser members, that usually means a birth-injury claim is decided by an arbitrator rather than a jury — and the claim still has to be started on time, so it is important not to wait.

Deadlines for a birth-injury claim in California

California gives a child’s birth-injury case its own deadline. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 340.5, a minor must sue within three years of the wrongful act, but a child who was under six when it happened has until his or her eighth birthday if that is longer. For a baby hurt during labor or delivery, that usually means the eighth birthday. The clock runs from the act itself, not from the day the family learned what went wrong, and it is paused only in narrow cases of fraud or collusion. Parents’ own claims, and claims against a public hospital, can have much shorter deadlines, so it is safer to get advice early.

California’s MICRA law limits one part of a medical malpractice recovery. Under Civil Code § 3333.2, as amended by AB 35, non-economic damages (pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life) are capped. In 2026 the cap is $470,000 for injury and $650,000 for wrongful death, and it rises every January 1 ($40,000 and $50,000 a year until 2033, then 2% a year). Separate caps can apply to doctors, hospitals and unaffiliated providers. Economic damages are not capped: lifetime medical care, therapy, equipment, home modifications and lost earning capacity can be recovered in full, and in a birth-injury case they are usually the largest part of the claim.

How to get the delivery records from Kaiser Permanente Panorama City

California law gives families a right to these records. Under Health and Safety Code § 123110, a patient or the patient’s personal representative — for a baby, a parent or guardian (§ 123105) — may inspect the records within five working days of a written request and is entitled to a paper or electronic copy, which the provider must send within 15 days after receiving a request that says which records are wanted. For a birth-injury review, ask for both charts: the mother’s labor and delivery record, including the fetal heart rate monitoring strips, and the baby’s newborn and NICU record.

Kaiser Permanente Panorama City Medical Center has a Release of Information (ROI) department that handles medical record requests. According to the hospital's website, it works by online and phone service only, at 818-375-2208, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the department can be reached by email at pcroi@kp.org. Its mailing address is Release of Information, 13652 Cantara Street, Panorama City, CA 91402, and the hospital points families to kp.org/requestrecords. For a baby, a parent or guardian can ask for two sets of records: the mother's labor and delivery chart and the baby's chart, including the NICU. Ask in writing for the fetal heart monitoring strips and the cord blood gas results by name.

The hospital’s medical records page →

Where a case from Panorama City would be filed

A birth-injury case in Los Angeles County that goes to court is usually filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, which hears its larger personal injury cases in the Central District in downtown Los Angeles. The Stanley Mosk Courthouse, at 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012, is the main downtown courthouse, and the court assigns injury cases to particular courtrooms, so the clerk's office or a lawyer can confirm the right one. For families who delivered at this hospital as Kaiser Permanente members, however, claims about the quality of care usually go to binding arbitration instead of court, run by a neutral Office of the Independent Administrator, so a court filing may not be the first step.

Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles – Stanley Mosk Courthouse (Central District) → — 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Help for your child now: Early Start in Los Angeles County

Early Start is California's program for babies and toddlers under age 3 who have delays or conditions that may lead to delays. For Panorama City and the San Fernando Valley, it is run through the North Los Angeles County Regional Center (NLACRC), 9200 Oakdale Avenue, Suite 100, Chatsworth, CA 91311. The state's regional center listing gives the Early Start intake line as 818-778-1900 and the email as earlystartintake@nlacrc.org. A parent can call to ask for a free evaluation without a lawyer and without waiting for a doctor's referral; say your address is in Panorama City so they can confirm the service area.

North Los Angeles County Regional Center (NLACRC) →

Key facts

Questions parents ask

Other Los Angeles County hospitals we cover

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center · Miller Children’s & Women’s Long Beach · Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center · Kaiser Permanente Downey · Antelope Valley Medical Center · Adventist Health White Memorial · Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park · Queen of the Valley Hospital, West Covina · CHA Hollywood Presbyterian · Huntington Hospital, Pasadena · Los Angeles birth injury lawyers →

Related pages

Cerebral Palsy · Erb’s Palsy / Brachial Plexus Injury · HIE / Oxygen Deprivation at Birth · Statute of Limitations · MICRA Damages Cap · All California hospitals · California birth injury lawyers · Birth injury guides

Beverly Law is an independent law firm. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or speaking for Kaiser Permanente Panorama City Medical Center or Kaiser Permanente (Kaiser Foundation Hospitals). Hospital facts on this page come from the public sources listed above.

Important: This page is general information about birth injuries and California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Beverly Law. Every case is different — talk to a lawyer about your own situation. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. No fees or costs unless we win. Last reviewed: 2026-09-18.