GOLISANO CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL AND OUR GROWING COMMUNITY
Thank you for picking up the back-to-school issue of Golisano Children’s Hospital’s Kids First magazine. If you’re new to this publication, we want you know this is one way our team provides the community and families we serve with tools and resources for proactive health care and education on the programs available to the children you care for. We hope you find this issue helpful in keeping your children healthy, safe, and well. As your children’s hospital, our goal is to enhance your child’s well-being and hope you never require our services. At the same time, we want to make sure the services are available should you require them.
We’d also like to take this opportunity to share with you just some of what’s new here at your local children’s hospital as we continue to make enhancements to meet the diverse needs of our growing community.
Last May we celebrated our fifth birthday. It was a noteworthy milestone as our team members and patients, past and present, gathered along with our namesake, Tom Golisano, to celebrate the impacts and advancements made in such a short time, and how bright the future looks for pediatric health care in the region.
Year to date, our hospital has seen a 25 percent increase in hospital admissions and a 25 percent increase in surgical cases, and we are treating more children in Southwest Florida than ever before. With a 40 percent increase in emergency department volume, we are on track to see more than 45,000 visits by fall, our highest volume ever. As the population continues to grow and more families move into the area, the need for pediatric care continues to increase.
While Covid is still a threat, we have increased partnerships to administer Covid vaccines to all approved ages in the community. Our mobile team has successfully administered nearly 5,000 vaccinations to ages 5 and older and will soon have vaccines available for those 6 months and older.
Another community partnership making great strides is the Mental Health Navigator program in Lee and Collier County schools. To date, these navigators have helped more than 178 students and their families. In addition, more than 274 individuals have received adult and youth Mental Health First Aid training.
As always, we want to thank all of our team members who are committed to our mission and providing our patients with the very best care day after day, including those who have shared their expertise to make this issue possible. And we give thanks to our generous community of donors, sponsors, and volunteers for making this hospital a reality and for continuing to invest in us, trust in us, and care with us.