Hundreds of former patients of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Children’s Heart Institute, and Rehabilitation Center at MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach were invited to a series of reunions to reunite with their care teams.
The reunions invite patients back to the hospital after being discharged from their care. These reunions offered patients and their families a chance to reconnect with the care teams who cared for them throughout their hospital stay. Patients and families of Miller Children’s & Women’s have a strong connection to their care teams who took care of them during a crucial time of their lives, either born prematurely, with a heart condition, or the need for rehab from an illness at birth or from an accident. For many of these patients, these reunions mark a major milestone in their journey, sharing with the care teams how much they have progressed since they were discharged.
“Both of my kids, Delilah and Ezekiel, were born at Miller Children’s & Women’s and were admitted to the NICU,” says Hannah Plumber, mother of Delilah and Ezekial, NICU Graduates at Miller Children’s & Women’s. “Delilah was born at 32 weeks and Ezekiel was born at 34 weeks, I had eclampsia in both pregnancies which caused me to deliver early. The NICU care team was amazing! The care they provided for my kids, me and my husband was so thorough and inclusive. They made sure we were all cared for and ready for our kids once they were discharged from the hospital after spending time in the NICU. The care was so phenomenal that we moved all our medical care entirely to MemorialCare.”
Along with reuniting with care teams, each reunion featured a variety of games, face painting, arts and crafts, and mini obstacle courses for patients and families to enjoy, including special visits from Marvel and Star Wars characters and Millie the Dolphin, the official mascot of Miller Children’s & Women’s. Several community members and volunteers also participated in these reunions, setting up booths and interacting with patients, playing games with them, and giving them gifts.
For the care teams of units such as the NICU, Peds Rehab, and the Children’s Heart Institute, seeing patients thrive during these reunions is one of the most rewarding experiences. Miller Children’s & Women’s treats nearly 1,200 critically ill and premature babies each year in its level IV NICU, the Rehabilitation Center sees a wide range of conditions within patients due to disability, injury, or illness, and the Children’s Heart Institute provides total prenatal, infant, pediatric, and young adult heart care for patients with congenital or acquired heart diseases. These care teams see a large number of patients each year, and each one makes a lasting impression they remember even after the patient and families have left the hospital.
“Our “annual” Pediatric Rehab Reunion started in 2014 and it remains to be one of my most favorite time of the year,” says Lisa Fasnacht-Hill, Ph.D., pediatric neuropsychologist, Rehabilitation Center, MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach. “There is nothing more heart-warming or rewarding than to witness our patients and their families together, with our rehab team, celebrating their physical and emotional healing. We remain awe-inspired by their strength and resilience.”
pediatric cardiology and congenital cardiac catheterization, Shaun P. Setty, M.D., pediatric cardiologist,
and M. Babak Rahimi, M.D., pediatric cardiologist, enjoyed meeting with former patients and Star Wars characters.
