A San Luis Obispo County hospital hosted one of the more unique reunion events in the area Thursday evening.
Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) held its annual NICU reunion, where families had the opportunity to reunite with staff members who provided expert care and resources to their ill or premature newborn infants.
"It's a wonderful feeling to see the kids and the families come back in a less stress-filled environment than you've seen them before," Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center NICU Medical Director Steve Van Scoy said. "... There are patients here and families here who've been coming back for 25 years. And it's just great to see them grow up and do wonderful things with their lives."
Dr. Van Scoy was named Neonatal Physician of the Year in 2022 by Pacific Coast Business Times, according to event officials.
The event was held at Sunset Drive-In in San Luis Obispo and included a photo slideshow of NICU "graduates," displaying images of when they were babies alongside images of them as they are now.
"This is really fantastic," Jessica Davis, an Atascadero resident said. "We've been coming to these NICU reunions for six years now and it's been a lot of fun."
The event ran from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and, in addition to the photo slideshow, included a first responder social hour to kick off the event and a special movie showing of the 2001 DreamWorks Pictures classic Shrek at 5:30 p.m.
Officials with the event said they expected over 300 people to attend.
Sierra Vista's NICU first began caring for medically fragile newborns in 1986 and they now see about 120 babies each year.
