Longtime Kadlec NICU director retires

Hannah Norman was born at 28 weeks, weighing about 2 1/2 pounds.

After the emergency C-section, “they just turned around and handed her to this ‘kid,’ and he took off down the hall,” recalled her father, Earl Norman. “I started after him, like, ‘Where are you taking my baby?’”

Hannah was headed to Kadlec Regional Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit.

And “the kid?” That was Dr. Anthony Hadeed, a youthful-looking doctor who’d recently come on board as the NICU’s director.

The Normans quickly learned Hadeed knew what he was doing. And they’re so grateful.

“He gave us our Hannah,” said mom Gaylynn Norman.

“She wouldn’t be alive without him,” Earl Norman said.

The Normans were among dozens of former NICU families who gathered Sunday for a reunion and special celebration honoring Hadeed, who retired a few months back.

The neonatologist joined the NICU in 1988, guiding it through a period of transformational growth.

The unit had eight beds when he started, and it now boasts more than triple that at 27.

“He has made the unit what it is. He came four or five years after it opened and it totally changed in the time he’s been there. The quality outcomes, the teamwork,” said Kelly Harper, unit manager.

And, she said, his personal touch put families at ease during difficult times.

“His demeanor — the families just fell in love with him,” Harper said.

At the gathering Sunday, families waited patiently to catch up with Hadeed.

Hannah Norman, now 26, brought the doctor a gift and gave an update on her life.

She’s healthy and thriving, and engaged to be married. Along with her parents, she brought her fiancé, Ben, to the reunion.

He snapped photos as Hannah and her parents posed with the doctor who helped saved her life.

Emma Ellis, 18, came with her mom, Liz.

Emma spent three months in the NICU after being born at 24 weeks, weighing 1 pound, 5 1/2 ounces.

Emma, who counts drawing and video games among her interests, now attends Pasco High School and Tri-Tech Skills Center.

She doesn’t remember her time in the NICU, but she’s heard stories and seen photos.

“There’s probably nothing I can say (to Hadeed and the staff). Thank you for taking care of me. I was tiny, and you took care of little me,” Emma said.

The reunion celebration was at the Gesa Carousel of Dreams in Kennewick. In between snacking on cookies and other treats and taking rides on the carousel, attendees took to the microphone to offer tributes to Hadeed. The doctor’s son, Jowed, part of the band Eclectic Approach, surprised his dad by singing an original song.

Hadeed seemed touched by the outpouring, and he said it’s meaningful to reconnect with past patients, to share in their triumphs.

“It’s good to see all the graduates. A lot of them are adults” who’ve gone onto college, the military and other successes, he said.

“It’s very rewarding. That’s what kept me going all these years. I didn’t do it for money, I did it to enjoy and appreciate and offer my service.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2015 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Longtime Kadlec NICU director retires."