HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital holds 3rd annual reunion for NICU babies

PANAMA CITY, Fla. ( WMBB ) – HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital held a reunion for NICU graduates and their families.

This is the third year this event has been held.

Every year HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital delivers 2,500 babies.

Roughly 350 of those babies are admitted into the NICU.

Allison and Michael Christie’s son, Mason was admitted into the NICU on October 6, 2022.

He weighed a little more than a pound.

Mason remained in the NICU for 74 days and was finally brought home on December 19 at five pounds.

“It doesn’t feel that long ago, but at the same time feels like a lifetime ago. Just that whole process because you kind of, you’re in a kind of fight or flight mode,” Mason’s dad Michael Christie said.

Mason is now 18 months old.

He and his family decided to show up to a reunion Sunday at the Palo Alto Church of Christ to give thanks to the doctors and nurses who made sure their baby boy was in good health.

“Not something I want to do again, but it was if we had to do it again, this is the place to do it,” Christie said.

Hospital staff invited more than 200 families who had babies in the NICU to the event.

“This is our third annual NICU reunion. And it’s just it’s an amazing opportunity for these families to get back together, for our NICU staff to see them these children have become our family,” HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital Women and Children’s Center Vice President Elizabeth Boyle said.

The reunion is for all the babies who were born shortly after Hurricane Michael and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every time a baby is discharged, HCA staff call it their graduation.

To celebrate those kids and families they hold this event to reconnect them with some of the staff members.

“It’s so rewarding to be able to get to see the kids come back, see them grow up, have their parents get a chance to see the nurses that have cared for their kids for a very, very long time,” Doyle said.

“It’s a lot of fun watching him grow up and we wouldn’t have them without these people. We are forever grateful to the NICU at HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital,” Christie said.

HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital is the only level III NICU provider in Bay County which means they can take care of a baby that weighs as little as 28 ounces. Also known as a micro preemie.

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