Golisano Children's Hospital

11/21/2024

In September, Chelsea and Aaron Schifferle held their first annual Born Brave 5K Fundraiser in Lockport, NY, in honor of their daughter Nina. Nina was born on February 1, 2024, with a rare congenital heart defect. She had two open heart surgeries through the cardiac care center at GCH and is now thriving.

Thank you to the Shifferle family for holding a successful event and raising a total of $15,000 for GCH!

11/20/2024

Cole Fields was born on June 20, 2017, 9 weeks premature due to intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and spent 41 days in the NICU to receive critical care. During these 41 days, Cole learned to breathe, eat, gain weight, and regulate his body temperature. In addition, Cole faced challenges such as jaundice, low platelet counts, and failure to thrive.

Cole is now a healthy 7 year-old who enjoys hockey, baseball, legos, learning about animals and riding bikes!

In observance of Prematurity Awareness Month, we wanted to credit the team that treated Cole. In the words of Cole's mother, Rebecca, "Not only was Cole given specialized care to keep him alive, but our entire family received support from the hospital and child life services. These services helped us as parents, and also provided comfort to Cole’s older sister, Paige. The doctors, nurses, and support staff became like family as we watched Cole develop into the strong fighter he is today. They nurtured him through every obstacle and showed us incredible compassion, ultimately helping Cole grow into the spunky, inquisitive, funny, and loving boy he is."

11/18/2024

Walking pneumonia cases have been on the rise this fall. Walking pneumonia includes symptoms that are similar to the common cold, and the methods to treat it are similar to other mild respiratory illnesses (rest, hydration, Tylenol or ibuprofen for aches or fevers). Learn more about how to distinguish walking pneumonia from other illnesses and when you should be concerned as a parent about the symptoms:

A lingering cough can be worrisome for parents, especially with so many respiratory illnesses floating around these days. So how do you know if you have walking pneumonia, and what should parents do if they suspect walking pneumonia in kids?

11/14/2024

Interested in donating for the holiday season and don't know what items are needed? Our Child Life Holiday Wish List has you covered! Please check the following link: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/childrens-hospital/ways-to-give/ways-to-donate/wish-lists/child-life-wish-list.aspx

Recently, the Wakley family collected items off of our wish list to donate to the hospital. Kids Graham and Eleanor led the effort to fill bags with items to give to our current patients. The family appreciates GCH as Graham spent more than 90 days as a NICU patient when he was born 15 weeks early. Thank you to the Wakley family and we appreciate everybody's generosity during this upcoming holiday season!

11/13/2024

Our Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics Division serves 10,000 patients each year from 48 counties around New York and Pennsylvania. It is the largest division in NYS outside of New York City dedicated to the treatment of children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD).

The next issue of Strong Kids magazine, coming out next month, will take an in-depth look at the division's history of innovation and their current efforts provide the best standard of care for children with IDDs. With the $50 million Golisano Institute on the horizon in the future, we look forward to the potential of expanding resources, research, and access to care for families in the region!

11/11/2024

Thank you to the 600 guests who walked the yellow brick road and joined us last month at the Pinnacle Athletic Center in Victor for the Oz-themed GCH Gala! This year’s fundraising focused on the creation of a new Mobile Medical Clinic, which will allow us to bring care directly to where children live, learn and play and will improve access to healthcare for children who experience barriers to receiving care in traditional settings (more details to come in the near future!).

We thank the numerous sponsors, donors and attendees who helped raise almost $2.5 million! We extend our gratitude to our honorary chairs, Bill and Rhonda Goodrich and event chairs, Lauren Dixon and Mike Schwabl. We would especially like to thank our amazing friends at LeChase for their $1 million gift, along with the Sands Family Foundation $250,000 challenge that truly helped elevate the evening’s fundraising,

11/08/2024

The 20th anniversary of the Fairport Music Festival did not disappoint: more than $300,000 was raised for GCH through the 2024 festival, and $3 million total has been raised during the past two decades. Fairport Music Festival's support has greatly assisted GCH toward achieving its goals of helping all children reach their full potential, and we look forward to many more decades of collaboration!

11/06/2024

2009 GCH Miracle Kid Cory Milburn was born 15 weeks premature, weighing 1 pound, 8 ounces. His prognisis was grim, and several initial rounds of life-saving medications, a dose of steroids, and a central line failed to improve his condition. At one point - after a second dose of steroids were administered in a last-ditch effort to save him - the Milburns were informed that they could hold Cory until he passed away.

Miraculously, Cory's vital signs began to improve after this second dose of steroids, while being held by his mom, and he started the long, gradual road toward a full recovery. Now in his senior year of high school, Cory is looking at colleges and living his life to fullest. Congratulations to Cory and the Milburn family on overcoming long odds and reaching young adulthood!

Read more about Cory's story here: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/childrens-hospital/ways-to-give/patients/miracle-kids/milburn-miracle.aspx

11/04/2024

Thank you to the select group of students from the School of Medicine and Dentistry for taking time off their busy schedule to stop by to make slime with our patients a few weeks ago. As you can see, the Play Deck is therapeutic and relaxing for students as well as the children staying here!

11/01/2024

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

Not to be outdone by our reverse-tick-or-treating group, our NICU babies (and siblings) got in the act by sporting a few onesie costumes yesterday.

10/31/2024

🎃Happy Halloween! 🎃

Today, GCH staff, caregivers, parent volunteers and leaders participated in one of our favorite traditions: reverse trick-or-treating, in which we visit patient rooms across the hospital to deliver goodies! Thank you to GCH Child Life for organizing this event, and special thanks to the tremendous turnout of all of our volunteers to make this event special! 👻

10/30/2024

The fall colors are in full swing and we're getting ready for reverse trick-or-treating tomorrow!

As you're preparing for Halloween, please check the following resource for common safety tips on how to make sure everyone has a great time: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/publications/health-matters/halloween-safety-tips-and-tricks

10/28/2024

Our Physical Therapy team is vital to the recovery efforts for many our patients, whether from traumatic injury, tumor removal, neurological issues and more. The story of Landon Williams is a great example of our PT team’s dedication: during the course of several months, the 11-year-old was experiencing mysterious pain in his back near his ribs. An outpatient MRI scan eventually revealed that Landon had a tumor near his spine.

Fortunately, the tumor was benign, and thanks to the efforts of Dr. Melissa LoPresti, it was surgically removed. Immediately afterward, Landon worked with Nicolette Standera, PT, DPT, staff physical therapist, on his inpatient recovery. Nicolette helped Landon move from the bed to the chair and back, and gradually gain strength walking in the room, and eventually walking the hall and using stairs.

Landon returned home last April; an avid hockey player, he is hoping to start skating again soon. Congratulations to Landon and thank you to our Physical Therapy team!

10/25/2024

In observance of Healthcare Quality Week, we want to give a shout out to one of our GCH Quality Improvement (QI) Unit Based Performance Program (UPP) teams. Our QI UPP teams work to provide a safe, high-quality, equitable, and patient-and-family-centered care experience that combines the best scientific evidence, expert clinical judgment, family input, and truly compassionate care.



Pictured here are members of our 8 South UPP team, which works to identify patient families with needs related to food, transportation, and housing and connects them to services during their hospitalization.



We would also like to recognize our QI teams that received the Greater Rochester Quality Council Performance Excellence Awards last week, including our Hair Care Equity Team, the Pediatric Cardiac Care Center 6 South UPP team, and the Family Connections Buddy Program (also pictured here). Thank you to all of our QI teams for working together to provide the best possible experience for our patients!

10/24/2024

It's Thankful Thursday, and we are grateful for several enterprising fundraisers this week!

1. Henry Thompson wanted to give back to the kids who come to GCH and spend time in the treatment center. He set-up his very first lemonade stand and raised $1,656 for GCH. Thanks Henry for helping to make a difference for the kiddos here at the hospital!

2. Andrew Tygart held his first annual co****le tournament and raised $2,000 for GCH.

3. Dan Barrow and nine of his friends held a fundraiser for GCH by just living the dream: watching baseball and enjoying some Zweigle’s hotdogs and beverages. During this 'hanging out' fundraiser they managed to raise $1,055 for GCH!

10/23/2024

🧸Thank you to the NASCAR Foundation Speedy Bear Brigade for bringing the pace car up from Watkins Glen yesterday to deliver teddy bears to our patients!

Teddy bears weren't the only gifts they brought either. The NASCAR Foundation also presented our Child Life team with a $10,000 grant-funded check to assist with their efforts to engage our patients during blood draws. Our appreciation goes out to them for supporting our Child Life division!

10/22/2024

For National Spina Bifida Awareness Month, we celebrate the inspiring story of one of our patients, Giana Bisnett.


Born in 2008, Giana has had 19 surgeries, most of them to correct her scoliosis that was caused by her spine not fully developing before birth. Her condition was the result of a large cyst that developed on the right side of her body. In turn, Giana is missing nine ribs and has a smaller-than-average right lung.

Her condition, however, has not prevented her from embracing life to the fullest. She loves to dance and enjoys attending classes at ROC Dance Studio, and recently participated in a production at OFC Creations Theatre Center. We also had the pleasure of welcoming her as a 2024 Red Wings All-Star this past Summer!

10/20/2024

🎂 What better way to celebrate your first birthday than with a Josh Allen themed card! Born on 10/8/2023, LaTwuan has spent every day in our NICU growing stronger, and he got to celebrate his first year of life last week. He is doing great and we congratulate him and his family on an important milestone!