On Tuesday, September 17, Hasbro Children’s Hospital announced details of extensive renovations that will be funded thanks to its Every Child, Every Day campaign.
Pictured from left: Bradford S. Dimeo, president, Dimeo Construction Company; Al Verrecchia, former chairman & CEO, Hasbro, Inc. and chair, Every Child, Every Day; Nicholas Mattiello, Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives; Margaret M. Van Bree, M.H.A., Dr.P.H., president, Rhode Island Hospital and its pediatric division Hasbro Children’s Hospital; Lawrence A. Aubin, Sr., chairman, Lifespan Board of Directors, and chairman, Rhode Island Hospital Board of Trustees; Timothy J. Babineau, M.D., president and chief executive officer, Lifespan; Dominick Ruggerio, Rhode Island Senate President; Kaitlyn Limoges and Mia Devolve, Hasbro Children’s Hospital essay contest winners.
Hasbro Children’s Hospital today announced that it has raised more than $25 million of its $35 million Every Child, Every Day campaign goal and revealed details of the renovation plans that will encompass nearly every inch of the hospital.
State legislative leaders joined hospital leadership and community supporters to celebrate the progress of the campaign and to announce the renovations it will fund. The planned projects will encompass Hasbro Children’s emergency department, patient and exam rooms and clinics and create new healing spaces; modernize open space and work stations; and improve the hospital’s comforts, aesthetics, wayfinding, and more. Some projects have already begun, with full completion expected by early 2022.
“This is truly an exciting time for Hasbro Children’s and for Lifespan,” said Timothy J. Babineau, M.D., president and CEO, Lifespan. “These renovations will ensure that our physical environment matches the level of care we provide, while also enabling us to retain top talent and continue to attract the best and brightest to Rhode Island.”
One of the major improvements the Every Child, Every Day campaign is making possible is the transformation of the Hasbro Children’s emergency department, which is the region’s only Level 1 pediatric trauma center and handles more than 53,000 patient visits a year. Physicians and nurses will have access to state-of-the-art enhancements to care for patients, including those suffering a psychiatric emergency, mental illness, or developmental disability. Along with meeting children’s diverse needs, whether related to trauma or a chronic condition, Hasbro Children’s has experienced a dramatic rise in the number of behavioral patients coming to the emergency department for care.
“Today, we recognize not only 25 years of delivering expert care to a generation of kids, but celebrate the future of pediatric medicine,” said Margaret M. Van Bree, MHA, DrPH, president of Rhode Island Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital. “When we embarked on this ambitious campaign three years ago, we set out to revamp Hasbro Children’s into the pediatric hospital of tomorrow. And this truly remarkable progress has been made possible by so many caring and compassionate people who want only the best for our kids.”
The Every Child, Every Day campaign has benefited from a momentous $2.5 million gift from the Yawkey Foundation for the emergency department. Ellen Collis and her family, longtime supporters of Lifespan hospitals, have made a very generous gift to fund expansion of the Bridge Clinic in the emergency department for behavioral health patients. The Champlin Foundation has supported the campaign with multiple gifts totaling more than $2 million in support of renovations hospital wide.
In addition to modifications to the emergency department, renovations will be made to the hospital’s inpatient rooms, nurse stations, surgical services suite and intensive care unit. More private consultation space will be created, and our hematology/oncology clinic, known as the Tomorrow Fund Clinic, will be expanded to feature 50 percent more treatment space dedicated to infusion therapy. The hospital’s inpatient oncology unit will receive important upgrades on the fifth floor.
The hospital’s primary care practice spaces, also where programs provide specialized care for foster children, will be redesigned to better serve the thousands of families who rely on Hasbro Children’s for care. Additionally, the hospital’s lobbies will be reimagined to complement the family-centered practices’ recognition that keeping families comfortable and nearby aids in children’s healing. To execute and oversee its projects, Hasbro Children’s has retained the services of Dimeo Construction Company.
“Our hospitals make Rhode Island a better place to live. The importance of promoting a healthy community can never be overstated,” said Al Verrecchia, the former chairman & CEO of Hasbro, Inc., and chair of the Every Child, Every Day campaign. “Philanthropy helped build Hasbro Children’s more than 25 years ago, and it is our community’s generosity that is again the driving force behind making our new dream a reality.”
In the most emotional moments of the announcement event, Kaitlyn Limoges, age 11, and Mia Devolve, age 9, read their winning submissions to the hospital’s recent essay contest, which invited children to capture – in their own words – why Hasbro Children’s is important for kids. Both patients of the hospital, Mia and Kaitlyn shared their respective medical journeys, highlighting how their Hasbro Children’s caregivers made them smile and provided comfort during difficult times.
“Hasbro Children’s was built to give us kids a chance at another day of seeing the sun rise. When I go to the hospital, the doctors and nurses make me feel like I am going to be okay,” shared Mia.
“Hasbro Children’s is so important to me because the nurses and doctors are heroes. They are all amazing and have worked so hard to make me feel better. Thank you, Hasbro, for all that you do for children and their families,” concluded Kaitlyn.