Former high-risk patients born in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit and their families convened to share stories and celebrate with the doctors and nurses who cared for them
Maimonides Health invited over 300 former patients of their Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and their families for an annual reunion event at the hospital. The block party took place outside the hospital and featured food, games, entertainment, raffles and more. The former patients, many of whom were some of the NICU’s highest risk cases, and their families, spoke about their experiences being treated at Maimonides and receiving the care that allowed them to survive despite being born prematurely and with life-threatening conditions.
Josselin Gutierrez and Sara Leah Klein, both mothers of two former NICU patients, spoke at the event about the care their daughters received at Maimonides. The daughters, now both four and a half years old, were born a day apart, weighing only 14 ounces and 1 pound, 2 ounces, respectively.
“Maimonides Health is the leading tertiary delivery system in Brooklyn, so we have the unique privilege of delivering more future New Yorkers than any other hospital. Our distinguished doctors and nurses provide personalized care to every baby born at our facility, especially high-risk newborns facing incredible challenges,” said Kenneth E. Gibbs, President and CEO, Maimonides Health. “We are elated to celebrate the gift of life with hundreds of former patients we have helped save and are proud to have played such an important role in their lives and families.”
“The patients being cared for at the Maimonides NICU are some of the highest-risk newborns in the City, so treating them requires advanced training, compassion, and empathy for the parents who put their children’s lives in our hands,” said Dr. Alok Bhutada, Chief of the Division of Newborn Medicine at Maimonides Children’s Hospital. “These former patients here today are a testament to the incredible care we strive to provide at Maimonides, and seeing them thriving alongside their families is the greatest reward we can receive as health care providers.”
Maimonides is a New York State-designated Regional Perinatal Center (RPC), in recognition of excellence in delivering maternity and neonatal care. The NICU provides critical care for newborns in a state-of-the-art facility, which is equipped to offer advanced procedures such as therapeutic hypothermia and video electroencephalogram (EEG). In-house coverage by a board-certified neonatologist is provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for all high-risk deliveries and care in the NICU.