NEWS

Neonatal reunion for Morristown Medical families

Michael Izzo
@MIzzoDR

MENDHAM – Hundreds of families gathered at Harbor Hills Day Camp Sunday afternoon, reuniting for the 32nd Morristown Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Alumni Reunion.

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Started in the 1980s, the annual NICU Alumni Reunion continues to grow. Sunday’s picnic saw about 500 families and 1,200 people a far cry from the small get-together 32 years ago.

“It kept getting bigger and bigger each year,” said Gaines Mimms, one of 14 neonatologists at Morristown Medical Center. He has attended the reunion for 31 of the 32 years.

“Dr. Andrew Schenckman was the one who flipped the first burger,” Mimms said. “He deserves the credit for turning this into what it’s become.”

Mimms said after what families go through in the NICU, they develop a strong relationship with the hospital’s staff.

“We become like family,” Mimms said. “This is a celebration of these victories, of the outcomes of these children. It’s wonderful to see children and parents years later.”

Mimms said some attendees of the event that are now 31-year-old former patients who still return each year.

“It’s very moving for us to see these children as adults. The kids that come, they don’t really know us, but their parents do, and we remember them,” Mimms said. “The children feel special because all these people know their story. They can be overwhelmed that we still remember.”

Mimms said the event is as much for the doctors and nurses as it is for the children and families.

“It’s overwhelming for us to see these families who we knew in a time of great stress now be happy and at peace,” Mimms said. “And a lot of families want to share their progress.”

While the event is strictly a celebration, not a fundraiser, a baby clothes and diaper donation collected items for families currently in Morristown’s NICU.

“It’s very upbeat. A lot of festive things for the kids,” Mimms said. “And we do tend to have lots of babies at the reunion as families especially come during those first few years.”

Activities included pony rides, go-karts, face painting, pony rides, and a hula hoop contest. Of course, there was also the annual t-shirt, which many of the attendees proudly collect each year.

Mostly though, families swap stories with nurses and doctors, with some previous patients even bringing their own kids decades after leaving the neonatal unit.

Former NICU baby Jessica Orr attended with her own children, twins Bentley and Addison, who were also patients there.

Mimms said many NICU babies are twins, triplets, and even quadruplets like “The Burke Bunch,” Morgan, Jimmy, Shannon, and Lindsey Burke, now 12, who return to the picnic each year.

Attendees also add photos of themselves to a “yearbook” so staff unable to join the picnic can see how they’ve grown.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com