King/Drew Neonatal Unit Invites Special Kids Back for a Reunion

With a booth for face painting, a petting zoo, pony rides and a snow cone machine, the event had all the trappings of the ultimate children’s party.

But on display in one corner, over next to the storyteller, a display of walkers and wheelchairs hinted that this might be a different sort of children’s gathering. It was one of few signs that the gathering of 500 or so children Saturday had special meaning.

In fact, the event held on the grounds of Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center was the ninth reunion of babies born in the hospital’s Rosa Parks Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Here was a chance to show off what makes the 31-year-old South Los Angeles hospital special, and its services so crucial, said Xylina Bean, chief of neonatology at King/Drew. Eighty percent of patients who deliver babies there are high-risk, said Bean.

Michelle Jones, 35, became one of those patients eight years ago. She had planned to deliver at another hospital, she said, but when she went into labor in her second trimester while at work nearby, she was rushed to King/Drew.

Her son, Tyrone, was born weighing only 1 pound, 3 ounces. He spent five months in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.

Saturday, Jones had only the highest of praise for the support staff at the hospital. Now, she brings Tyrone to King/Drew reunions “to show the progress he’s made.”

Tyrone’s very survival is a testament to the staff and technology at the hospital, Bean said.

In the last two years, King/Drew has faced a barrage of questions about the quality of some of its teaching programs, including neonatal-perinatal, which received a warning.

Earlier this month, an outside reviewer visited the hospital to consider whether to revoke its right to train new doctors. In addition, a task force is considering whether to consolidate the county’s four neonatal intensive care units.

Doctors on the neonatal-perinatal program say they have resolved all of the concerns raised by the accreditation council.

“The county’s concern is that sick babies cost a lot of money,” Bean said. But no other hospital in the area has a similar neonatal intensive care unit, she said, and “getting services immediately has the highest correlation with survival” for at-risk babies.

Many children at Saturday’s picnic were born prematurely, and therefore have a higher risk of developmental problems, from asthma to learning difficulties, said Bean.

Jose Hinojosa, 7, is at King/Drew’s clinics at least once a month, said his mother, Silvia. He suffers from a seizure disorder and developmental delay and visits a host of doctors.

Silvia Hinojosa, 29, said she brings Jose to the reunion each year “because it’s a lot of fun.”