St. John’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Reunion
Sept. 26, 2005
 

St. John’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will host its annual reunion 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2 at St. John’s Cancer Center auditorium, 2055 S. Fremont in Springfield.

Each year in October, St. John’s hosts an NICU reunion, where former patients, their parents and the NICU staff can see each other again and celebrate the former patients’ “graduation” from the NICU.

 “We always ask the families to come to the NICU reunions so we can see the patient again. Seeing the babies healthy and going home is the greatest joy of working in the NICU. When that day comes, everyone is so happy for the baby and the family,” says St. John’s neonatologist and NICU medical director Melinda Slack, M.D.

 Slack, who helped open St. John’s NICU, has seen the now 28-bed unit grow over its two decades. The nurse-patient ratio is dependent on each patient’s condition and varies from 1:2 to 1:3. Once St. John’s only neonatologist, Slack is joined by colleagues Vish Subramanian, M.D., Consolacion Sison-Switala, M.D. and Edward Stevens, M.D.

St. John’s maternal-fetal medicine specialists Gary Thurnau, M.D. and Robert Fraser II, M.D., who care for women with high-risk pregnancies, work hand-in-hand with the neonatologists.

RSVP is preferred, but not required. Call 417-820-8888 or 1-800-909-8326.

For media information, contact St. John's Media Relations at 417-820-2426 or cscott@sprg.mercy.net.