Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital honored the “graduates” of their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Saturday with slides, bubbles and reunions with hospital staff.
Invitees at the event included babies who received care at the Henry Mayo NICU during the past seven years, along with their families, physicians, nurses, donors and members of the community.
For the staff at Henry Mayo, the reunion is an opportunity to celebrate how well the ‘graduates’ are doing and rejoice, according to Elizabeth Tarantini, perinatal social worker.
“We get to have a really close bond with the families during one of the most vulnerable times of their lives,” said Tarantini. “It’s a really nice opportunity to meet up in a happy way to see how the children our doing and to see the fruits of our labor.”
Just 30 people attended the first event in 2013, though over the years the event has grown immensely. Hospital officials saw nearly 600 attendees in 2018.
For the seventh year, families who have left the NICU were able to return and celebrate their children’s growth with the doctors and nurses that helped get them to this point.
Some NICU graduates are now growing old enough to attend school and extracurricular activities.
“We have some now that are six and they’re in kindergarten, or playing tee-ball or dance recitals. I have moms showing me their babies on their phones,” said Tarantini. “It’s just a beautiful thing to see how far these little ones have come and how big they’ve gotten.
The Kim and Steven Ullman Neonatal Intensive Care Unit first opened in June 2012, with this year’s gathering serving as a testament to the lifesaving work done over the last seven years.
“We really do become an extended family, and they become apart of our NICU family and our Henry Mayo Family,” said Tarantini.
Sponsored Articles
KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.