NSMC News Releases

Some of North Shore Medical Center’s (NSMC) smallest patients were invited back to the hospital this past weekend for a festive, Halloween-themed reunion to celebrate their miraculous births and recoveries at the NSMC Special Care Nursery. Dozens of patients and their families reunited with hospital nurses, therapists and physicians.

The festivities included entertainment and refreshments, but the real treat for the families was reconnecting with the staff that cared for their bundles of joy. “The Special Care Nursery staff looks forward to this event every year,” says Suzanne Nevins, R.N., NSMC neonatal nurse. “There is nothing more incredible than seeing a patient, who you cared for as a fragile baby, come to the event as a strong, healthy child.”

Located at NSMC Salem Hospital, the 12-bed Special Care Nursery is designed to care for babies who need medical monitoring and specialized services not routinely available in standard maternity rooms or community hospital nurseries. Last year alone, hundreds of babies were admitted to the hospital’s recently renovated Special Care Nursery.

The newly renovated Special Care Nursery is more than quadruple the physical size of the old unit, creating a more spacious, private and peaceful environment for babies and their families. In addition to being larger and more private, the renovated nursery also includes a waiting room for families and additional space that can be used for physician-family consultation and patient education. Enhanced lighting and sound calm the environment, and a centralized bedside monitoring system facilitates faster and more accurate delivery of care.

NSMC’s outgoing Chief of Newborn Medicine Sanjay Aurora, M.D., who was pivotal in the development of the Special Care Nursery, the centerpiece of the NSMC’s neonatology program, was excited to reunite with the babies and their families one last time.

“We’re with these patients and their families for the first days or weeks of their lives and see them through some complex health problems, which can be a very stressful time for both the patient and their families,” says Dr. Aurora. “So to get to reunite with them and see how the babies have grown and thrived is an extremely rewarding feeling, and a memory I’ll cherish as I say farewell to NSMC.”

North Shore Medical Center (NSMC) is a multi-site health system headquartered in Salem, Mass., which includes NSMC Salem Hospital, NSMC Union Hospital in Lynn, MassGeneral for Children at North Shore Medical Center, NSMC Heart Center, and the physician network known as North Shore Physicians Group. NSMC and Massachusetts General Hospital together provide care at the Mass General/North Shore Center for Outpatient Care and the Mass General/North Shore Cancer Center in Danvers. NSMC is a member of Partners HealthCare, which was founded by Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. #northshoremed