Family Advisory Council Winners 2007
The Family Advisory Council at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center honored a team of family members and a team of staff members on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007, with the Award of Excellence in Family-Centered Care.
Lois and Dave Willis have parented over 30 adopted and foster children, as well as four of their own biological children. They were selected as winners for their extraordinary efforts to provide a home for kids who represent some of the most challenging in the foster care system and for partnering with Cincinnati Children's in achieving the best care for them.
Jim Geller, MD, and Maureen Gallagher, CNP, from Hematology / Oncology, were singled out for going beyond the scope of their duties to stand by their patients and families in their most difficult times.
Lee Carter, chairman of the Board of Trustees, welcomed the crowd that had gathered in the Sabin Center prefunction area, saying, "As chairman, I have the great pleasure of being around the medical center a lot in a year, but this is my favorite time, when we recognize all of you who practice family-centered care."
Carter recalled how he, along with president and CEO Jim Anderson, and a host of other Cincinnati Children's leaders, attended a workshop on family-centered care in Lake Tahoe 10 years ago. "We came away from that experience saying, 'This is the right thing to do.' It's fabulous to stand here 10 years later and see what family-centered care has done to transform the way we deliver care."
Being family-centered takes a variety of shapes in different areas of the medical center. Said Carter, "To one child, family-centered care is getting to pick which finger is pricked when her glucose level is tested. For a mother, it is being listened to when she knows something is just not right with her child. For an executive, it is holding dinner meetings with families to get their ideas on a project. For a coworker, it is designing a pamphlet about Mexican culture for her department to better understand a large group of people they serve."
Bill Kent, senior vice president, Clinical Care Delivery, presented the awards to each of the recipients. But first he told a little of their stories.
Dave and Lois Willis
A typical day in the Willis household of nine special needs children, ranging in age from 10 months to 21 years, starts out with trying to get six of the kids cleaned, dressed, fed and out the door to five different schools by 8:25 am. They average 10-15 hospital appointments each month, not including weekly visits for occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech and early intervention for the abused kids and drug- and alcohol-addicted babies. Some of the children have sports practice four nights a week. That contributes to the 25 loads of laundry that gets done on a weekly basis.
The letter nominating the Willis' for this award states, "Dave and Lois' willingness to work as a team with all the Cincinnati Children's staff is well known throughout the medical center. Their reputation in the medical and foster care community makes them sought out by many when a difficult case has been presented to the county for placement. The community is blessed to have a wonderful family resource like the Willis' to provide the best of care in the worst of circumstances."
The Willis' have endured the loss of five of the more than 30 children they have parented. But it's worth the heartache. Says Lois, "We want to provide a home to kids instead of an institution. Every child deserves a family and love."
The Willis' were thrilled to receive the Excellence in Family-Centered Care Award. "I was surprised and honored," said Lois.
Added Dave, "We appreciate everyone who was involved in nominating us. I've served on the selection committee before, so I know how hard it is to make a decision. We consider it a privilege to receive this award."
Jim Geller, MD, and Maureen Gallagher, CNP
One of the most difficult things Keith Desserich ever had to do was carry his daughter Elena's body to an ambulance outside his home on the morning she died to be taken to Cincinnati Children's for a brain biopsy to support pediatric neuro-oncology. He wasn't ready to let her go. He worried about whom she would be with, who would take care of her, and didn't want her to be alone.
Jim Geller, MD, was there. He oversaw the biopsy procedure and made many phone calls to Keith and his wife Brooke to assure them their daughter's body was being cared for.
Elena suffered from diffuse brainstem glioma, which is a type of malignant brain tumor. Geller and Maureen Gallagher, CNP, were there to help Elena and her family as they traveled on their difficult journey.
In his nominating letter, Keith Desserich wrote: In most other circumstances, doctors and nurses go out of their way to distance themselves from the patient and the family when they understand the gravity of the situation. We know his, because we have seen this before. What makes Dr. Geller and Maureen Gallagher worthy of this nomination and award is that they never left our side. From the beginning to the end, they were there to comfort, educate and uphold our family's strength in the toughest of times. They epitomize what I think medicine should be about and how the worst of times demonstrates a person's true character. If they are not worthy of this award, I can think of no other to recognize."
