Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City (RMHC-KC) is announcing an expansion across the state line to Overland Park Regional Medical Center, part of HCA Midwest Health, Kansas City’s leading healthcare provider. Seeing the need for families to be steps away from Overland Park Regional Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), which accommodates 60 babies, and the pediatric unit which accommodates eight children, RMHC-KC made the decision to be there for those families in need. The charity will open the Ronald McDonald Family Room inside the Johnson County-based hospital this winter, with four sleeping rooms for families with sick babies or children in the NICU or PICU.
Ronald McDonald Family Rooms are provided so that families have a safe, peaceful environment to find rest and respite while their child receives medical treatment. The Overland Park Regional Medical Center Ronald McDonald Family Room will be the second in the Kansas City metro area. RMHC-KC currently provides a seven-bedroom Family Room inside Children’s Mercy. The original concept was born in Kansas City in 1992 and has grown to over 266 Family Rooms across 28 regions and countries globally. It is the fastest-growing Ronald McDonald House Charities program worldwide.
"We are proud to bring a Ronald McDonald Family Room to Overland Park Regional Medical Center for parents with sick babies or children, helping them find community, camaraderie, and shared support while offering a warm meal, a shower, or a few hours of rest – just steps from their child’s bed," says RMHC-KC Chief Executive Officer. Tami Greenberg.
Families will also be able to stay overnight and utilize laundry facilities inside the Family Room.
“Having a Ronald McDonald House Family Room onsite is a crucial part of providing peace of mind during a family’s most vulnerable time,” says Overland Park Regional Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Matt Sogard, FACHE. “When parents are faced with the stress of having their baby or child in the hospital, we do everything possible to improve their experience, while providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare to their tiny loved one. This addition will save our families — many of whom travel hundreds of miles away from home —precious time, so they can concentrate on their number-one priority, their child.”
Designed by Perspective Architecture + Design and built-in partnership with J.E. Dunn Construction, the 2,500-square-foot Overland Park Regional Medical Center Ronald McDonald Family Room will feature four comfortable bedrooms, a living room space, private bathrooms, a full kitchen-dining area and laundry facilities.
For more on the newest Ronald McDonald Family Room, go to RMHCKC.org/NewFamilyRoom.