Celebrating her birthday with WellSpan team who gave her a healthy start

April 10, 2022

Katie Welper with (from left, in right photo) Dr. Michael Goodstein, neonatologist; Julie Kane, nurse; and Tom Kemp, respiratory therapist, on her 10th birthday. Photos at left show Katie as an infant and as a 3-year-old.

Born about three months early in 2012, Katie Welper weighed just 2 pounds, 10 ounces and was 16 and a half inches long. She spent 92 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at WellSpan York Hospital, hooked up to a ventilator, intravenous lines, and monitors. Today, Katie is almost 5 feet tall, cheerleads and plays basketball at her Adams County school. Almost every birthday, Katie returns to the NICU to see her care team. Katie, the daughter of Aaron Welper, a WellSpan York Hospital nurse, and Stephanie Welper, recently returned for her 10th birthday photo to see Dr. Michael Goodstein, neonatologist; Julie Kane, nurse; and Tom Kemp, respiratory therapist.