LG Health Foundation | Soaring to New Heights Pediatric Campaign

This project is for Lancaster’s children and families. We want to help pediatric care “Soar to New Heights!”

At Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, we believe children in our community deserve the highest level of care, so we partnered with the community to open the Seraph-McSparren Pediatric Inpatient Center at Lancaster General Hospital in September of 2019. The center offers state-of-the-art design, technology and programs in a child and family-centered environment. In addition to the brick and mortar assets the new Center offers, patients and families also have the benefit of support from Child Life Specialists who help ease the stress of hospitalization.

Child Life is not a billable medical service, but it adds an immeasurable benefit of lowering anxiety and improving healing. Child Life Specialists are a patient and family-focused team of pediatric healthcare professionals who provide children with age-appropriate preparation for medical procedures, pain management, coping strategies and therapeutic play. They also provide information, support, and guidance to parents and siblings. Funding for these vital positions is provided through philanthropic support to The Lancaster General Health Foundation with additional support from LG Health.

We invite you to learn more about Child Life and support the LG Health Foundation’s Child Life Endowment by making a gift to help children and families in our community who are hospitalized at Lancaster General Hospital.

A hospital experience is an uneasy time for children. The Child Life Team helps families cope with their feelings.

An Invaluable Resource

“As a parent, Child Life Specialists greatly reduced the feeling that I was powerless to help. I learned how coping strategies worked, the power of distraction, and most importantly, how to communicate with my child at an appropriate level to build trust. I truly believe it’s critical for hospitals to have Child Life Teams.”

-Julie, Grateful Parent

With support from our community, philanthropy will sustain the Child Life program through programmatic and endowment support. Together, we can transform the hospital experience for children and families in our community.

Now that Lancaster General Health has an alliance with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia—one of the country’s top-ranked pediatric hospitals— specialists from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Lancaster pediatricians work in tandem with the Child Life Team to deliver specialized care to our youngest patients.

Planning for the FutureGrowing the Child Life Endowment at LG Health

SUSTAINING THE CHILD LIFE PROGRAM

LG Health is committed to supporting two Child Life Specialists to staff the Seraph-McSparren Pediatric Inpatient Center at Lancaster General Hospital as well as the Emergency Department
Philanthropic gifts given to the Child Life Endowment support two additional Child Life Specialists at Lancaster General Hospital
Over the next five years, The LG Health Foundation’s goal is to grow the Child Life Endowment to support Child Life positions at Lancaster General Hospital, The Suburban Outpatient Pavilion, LG Health Urgent Care facilities, and Women & Babies Hospital.

PROGRAMMATIC SUPPORT

The Child Life Endowment will supply the tools needed to comfort pediatric patients including coping dolls, art and music therapy supplies
Educational resources for parents and siblings will help the whole family cope with the stress of a hospitalization

STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY AND RESOURCES

The Child life Endowment will guarantee the Center has ongoing resources to make future updates and technology upgrades to meet the evolving needs of pediatric patients and their family members
Training and education for the Child Life Team will ensure best practices in pediatric care are being implemented

20,000 Annual Visits

to our Emergency Room. Child Life specialists are available to support children and families during these stressful visits

4,000 Pediatric Patient Encounters

the average encounters a Child Life Specialist has each year

1,200

pediatric encounters per year by the Child Life Team in the new Seraph-McSparren Pediatric Inpatient Center

A Team of 4

Full and part-time Child Life Specialists who attend to pediatric patients at Lancaster General Hospital

THE BEGINNING OF THE TERRIFIC TWOS

Thanks to the generosity of community donors who contributed over $9 million to build the new pediatric space and fund Child Life positions, we’re out of our infancy and growing stronger every day. To celebrate our second birthday, we’re sharing stories from two patients and their families who needed our help this year.

Give Now!