Compassionate Capitalism - January 2002

Foundation for Positively Kids

“Caring for Kids Positively”

by Kathleen Foley

The Foundation for Positively Kids, along with the medical community in Southern Nevada, have identified the need for a pediatric skilled nursing facility (PSNF) in Clark County. No such facility exists anywhere in Nevada. Instead, medically fragile children are often placed in adult nursing homes where their specialized needs are unmet. Worse, seriously ill children are being sent out of state, away from their families, to receive the skilled nursing care they need, which is currently unavailable in Nevada. This can be emotionally wrenching for children, who often cannot understand why they have been separated from their families, and places an emotional and financial burden on parents who have to bear travel expenses and miss work days to visit their children.

The Foundation is currently raising money to construct a 24-bed medical facility to provide inpatient and outpatient care for medically fragile children. The facility’s staff will consist of nurses, therapists, social workers and counselors specially trained in caring for these children’s special needs. Services will include 24-hour nursing care and therapy for children from birth to 18 requiring sub-acute care following a hospital discharge. It will also provide long-term care, as well as hospice services for terminally ill children. Plans also include a provision for short-term respite services to relieve overburdened family caregivers and a day care program for ill children whose parents need to return to work.

EO Fred Schultz provides the following statistics to point out the need for such a facility: Of the 23,000 children born in 1999 in Clark County, 3,000 were classified as medically dependent, at least in the short term. Approximately 600 children are admitted to Nevada hospitals each year with traumatic brain injuries. In fiscal year 1999, Medicaid sent 51 Nevada children out of state to residential treatment centers, at a cost to taxpayers of $7.4 million. An additional 64 children are currently living in adult nursing homes in Clark County, at an annual cost of $1.5 million.

The foundation’s fundraising efforts include the annual Great American Duck Derby. On the occasion of the first Duck Derby in April 2000, Governor Kenny Guinn sent the following letter to the foundation: "As parents and grandparents, [Dema and I] are encouraged to learn that Positively Kids supports the notion that medically fragile children should not be institutionalized indefinitely and recognizes the need for a skilled pediatric nursing facility in Las Vegas. It is also encouraging to know that this program allows a child’s family to be involved in the planning and provision of his or her care."

ACTION STEPS:

Foundation for Positively Kids

4517 South Industrial Road

Las Vegas, NV 89103

702-262-0037

Web site: positivelykids.org

1. Contact the foundation’s office about cash donations, giving by will, trust or life insurance, or gifts of stock.

2. Ask how your company can participate in the Great American Duck Derby, to be held on May 11, 2002 at the Monte Carlo.

3. Offer your services as a volunteer.

Kathleen Foley
Kathleen Foley is a freelance writer based in Southern Nevada.