Children’s Mercy Hospital makes the world a healthier place for children to grow up in, and Ronald McDonald House helps by giving families a place to live while their little ones are in hospital care. Labconco makes a generous donation to Children’s Mercy or Ronald McDonald House annually. More than half a million children need their help each year, each with their own inspiring story. One of those stories is our own.
Jessica Burdg has personal experience with Children’s Mercy Hospital. When she was a new associate at Labconco, Jessica’s daughter Ella was born prematurely with many health complications. She was transferred to Children’s Mercy because she needed an oscillating ventilator to help her collapsed lung. “At the time, we lived almost an hour away from the hospital,” Jessica explained. “I didn’t want to leave her, so going home was not an option.”
Little Ella was in the neonatal intensive care unit, so Jessica couldn’t stay by her side. “Staying next door at the Ronald McDonald House was the only option that could keep me close to my sick child. I wanted to be there for every round the doctors made and every change in my daughter’s health, whether a setback or a win.”
“Had I not had Ronald McDonald House to stay at, I quite literally would have slept on the couches in the waiting room at Children’s Mercy.” She was thankful for the welcoming feeling of a Ronald McDonald House (RMDH) to return to. Before her stay at RMDH, Jessica was scared—not only for her daughter’s health, but the uncertain logistics of being near her to help. The inviting rooms and staff at the Ronald McDonald House gave her an “overall feeling of relief.”
After her stay, Jessica gave back to the place that helped her in her time of need. “I worked in the Ronald McDonald House Family Room inside Children’s Mercy Hospital for some time (after my daughter was home and well.) It was a very rewarding experience to help families in crisis.” Understanding the strains of having a sick child, Jessica could relate to the families, and helped them meet their basic needs of a place to sleep and food to eat.
In 1988, Ronald McDonald House Kansas City opened the Bernstein House, a 19-bedroom space for families to stay in while their children were getting medical care for critical illnesses at Children’s Mercy Hospital. Since then, the Kansas City area has been fortunate enough to have 3 other Ronald McDonald Houses. In 1997, Children’s Mercy Hospital of Kansas City opened the world’s first Ronald McDonald Family Room within the hospital. The Family Room gives parents and siblings an area to relax and decompress in a house-like setting without having to leave the hospital or their sick child.
On any given night, 87 families are staying in a Kansas City Ronald McDonald house, serving more than 7000 families a year. Instead of having to leave their child for the isolation of an expensive hotel room or stay in a cramped hospital waiting area, families can go to a house, eat a homecooked meal, shower, and sleep in a real bed: things that are taken for granted, but are so important when you are looking after a sick child.