Did You Know We Need A Real Children’s Hospital?

Gayle Schrier Smith M.D. • Oct 10, 2020
DID YOU KNOW??

Did you know that I have written about and wished for a real Children’s Hospital for Richmond for more than twenty years?  We could split hairs on the definition of a ‘real’ Children’s Hospital, but I’ll wager that you know one when you see one.

I grew up in Pittsburgh where the Children’s Hospital provides pretty much all of the inpatient and subspecialty care a child would ever need. They have famous researchers, cutting edge technology, the best surgeons and experts in every kind of pediatric healthcare. I trained to be a doctor here in Richmond, so I am familiar with how things are done here AND there.

It is one of the more difficult parts of my work to do without a centralized center of pediatric excellence in Richmond. We have three separate hospital systems, and sadly…we divide the very best pediatric experts between three different places. The A-Team does not all work under one roof.

Research as well as medical care are all done in multiple, fragmented sites; resources are duplicated, and pediatric subspecialists have to waste precious time driving from one hospital to the next to make hospital rounds and care for their patients. Sick children are also driven in ambulances from one side of town to another when one hospital isn’t able to provide the needed inpatient services. I wish it weren’t this way.

Our kids deserve better. My kids and my patients deserve a full service, free standing Children’s Hospital.

Did you know that hundreds of pediatricians have gotten together to catalyze change time and time again over the decades? Change For A New Children’s Hospital. That’s what I’ve been collecting for twenty years. Pennies in a jar. Guess how many I have? As our voices try to come together, it’s clear that the most important step is to educate the people who most need to understand how healthcare is provided to children in RVA. It’s you. It’s a new day, and the message is simple:  we need a new hospital for the children.

DID YOU KNOW?

Originally published May 15, 2011

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