St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children in Bayside is inviting the community to join them as they celebrate 150 years of caring for New York’s kids through a 30-day fundraising challenge beginning in September.
The challenge will feature a selection of socially-distant events including: fitness, paint nights, Zumba classes, trivia nights and a virtual walk.
As New York City’s only post-acute pediatric care facility, located at 29-01 216th St., St. Mary’s treats the city’s most critically ill and injured children.
The hospital was founded in 1870 when the Sisters of St. Mary established a small, 15-bed hospital in Hell’s Kitchen to provide free medical care for sick children. St. Mary’s now cares for thousands of children each day, both in a 124-bed inpatient facility and in the community through family-centered home care programs.
“We’re proud to carry the same commitment to loving, personalized care that our founders had when they established a free hospital for children in 1870,” said Dr. Edwin Simpser, St. Mary’s president and CEO. “We look forward to celebrating another 150 years of caring for New York’s children through innovative approaches to treatment that allow our children to thrive.”
More than 90 percent of the patients at St. Mary’s need a level of care that exceeds what their families are able to afford and what Medicaid covers. All funds raised will go directly toward supporting programs and treatment for patients.
Despite extremely limited resources, St. Mary’s provides innovative therapies and rehabilitation programs including art, music and aquatic therapy, a Locomotor Training Program that provides rehabilitation to children with spinal cord injuries, and New York’s only intensive day patient program specializing in pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders.
St. Mary’s also created New York’s first long-term home care program for children and young adults with disabilities and medically complex conditions, New York’s first center for pediatric respiratory care and the nation’s first pediatric palliative care program.
To sign up for the challenge, click here.
