Press Release

Text Size:

A + A ++ A +++

Party of Four

July 14, 2012

All Press Releases

July 14, 2012

Party of four

BY BETHANY BRAY, STAFF WRITER
The Salem News

---- - BEVERLY - Standing behind four teenagers and four birthday cakes yesterday, David Driscoll wore a T-shirt that said it all: "You don't scare me, I have quadruplets."

The shirt, faded by repeated wearings and washings, was a Father's Day gift from his children: Cullen, Killian, Riley and Emma.

"It's been a heck of a ride," said the quads' mother, Mary, laughing as her brood blew out their birthday candles.

The clan gathered at Beverly Hospital yesterday to mark the quads' 15th birthday. The hospital has also thrown birthday parties for their first, fifth and 10th birthdays.

The Driscolls were the first quadruplets ever to be treated at Beverly Hospital; the facility has had one more set of quads come through since.

The four infants spent several weeks in the Special Care Nursery at Beverly Hospital after they were delivered prematurely July 17, 1997 at New England Medical Center in Boston.

Fifteen years later, they're going into 10th grade at Peabody High School. They've developed different personalities and interests, from baseball to flag football.

When asked yesterday what it's like to be a quadruplet - probably for the hundredth time in her life - Emma shrugged and said, "It's good, I guess."

It's hard to understand life as a multiple if you're not one, the siblings agreed.

At yesterday's celebration, the Driscolls' friends and family munched on pizza and cake and visited with doctors and hospital staffers who stopped by to say hello. The quads traded some good-natured ribbing as they sat at a table with friends.

Dr. Tai Tran, a neonatologist, and pediatrician Dr. Peter Short, both of whom treated the quads at Beverly Hospital, were among yesterday's party-goers.

Fifteen years ago, when the quads were ready to go home, the hospital staggered their releases - to help the parents as much as the babies, Tran said, smiling.

Mary Driscoll chuckled yesterday as she remembered that they came home before she had even had her baby shower. At birth, the smallest of the bunch weighed 2 pounds, 14 ounces and the biggest was 4 pounds, 14 ounces.

The couple found out they were having four babies after going through their fifth round of in vitro fertilization treatment in the span of one year. They had decided it would be their last round of IVF, whether or not it took.

"It was a blessing," said David Driscoll. "IVF was hell ... more stress than (raising) the kids."

Bethany Bray can be reached at bbray@salemnews.com and on Twitter @SalemNewsBB

Awards & Recognition

100 TOP HOSPITALS

Beverly Hospital and Addison Gilbert Hospital Among Truven Health Analytics 2015 Top 100 Hospitals

THE LEAPFROG GROUP'S HOSPITAL SAFETY SCORE

Since the onset of the Hospital Safety Score in Spring 2012, the publicly available data showed Beverly Hospital and Addision Gilbert Hospital have consistently exceeded the standards of other medical institutions in terms of patient safety procedures in place, earning them both a Straight A’s distinction.

Our Boston Area Locations

Public Announcement Concerning a Proposed Health Care Project

Lahey Health System, Inc., located at 41 Mall Road, Burlington, MA 01805 (the parent of Lahey Clinic Hospital, Inc., 41 Mall Road, Burlington, MA 01805, Northeast Hospital Corp., 85 Herrick Street, Beverly, MA 01915, and Winchester Hospital, 41 Highland Avenue, Winchester, MA 01890), CareGroup, Inc., located at 109 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 (the parent of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc., 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 (which in turn includes Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton, Inc., 199 Reedsdale Road, Milton, MA 02186, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital – Needham, Inc., 148 Chestnut Street, Needham, MA 02492, and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital – Plymouth, Inc., 275 Sandwich Street, Plymouth, MA 02360), New England Baptist Hospital, 125 Parker Hill Road, Boston, MA 02120, and Mount Auburn Hospital, 330 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138), and Seacoast Regional Health Systems, Inc., located at 25 Highland Avenue, Newburyport, MA 01950 (the parent of Anna Jaques Hospital, 25 Highland Avenue, Newburyport, MA 01950) (collectively the "Applicant"), intend to file an Application for Determination of Need ("Application") relative to a proposed affiliation involving the Applicant (the "Project"). The Applicant is submitting its Application as it intends to affiliate to create a new comprehensive, distributed, high quality and high-value non-profit healthcare delivery system to serve patients throughout Eastern Massachusetts. To facilitate the level of economic and clinical integration required to better manage the health of a broad population and meaningfully impact care delivery in the state, the Project would establish a new parent company that will function as the sole corporate member of each hospital, and will also include the participation of the organizations’ accountable care organizations. The Total Value of the Project is estimated to be approximately $5,323,154,000. There is not expected to be any anticipated price or service impacts on the Applicant’s existing Patient Panel. Any ten Taxpayers of Massachusetts may register in connection with the intended Application or amendment by no later than October 16, 2017, by contacting the Department of Public Health Determination of Need Program, 250 Washington Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02108.

Facebook Twitter YouTube