Already in the midst of a large expansion, Miller Children’s Hospital last week announced a $1.5 million donation from Glen and Debbie Bickerstaff that will create an additional inpatient pavilion to attach to the existing hospital building. The donation was given to the Memorial Medical Center Foundation—which supports the Miller Children’s Hospital—from the Bickerstaff Family Foundation, and the new facility will focus on meeting health care access challenges for families in need.
The donation supports the hospital’s “Building For Children: Heroes Helping Heroes” expansion. Upon completion—expected in late 2009—the expansion will include the only pediatric imaging center and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit beds in the region, and will also boast the region’s only operating rooms designed for children.
“Our goal is to better serve our entire community; and as hospitals in the surrounding area are cutting back and even eliminating their pediatric services, it is increasingly important that we expand,” said Terry A. Belmont, CEO, Miller Children’s Hospital and Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in a released statement.
“We are happy to have such dedicated partners like the Bickerstaffs who believe in our mission and who epitomize the best in generosity.”
The Miller Children’s Hospital delivers more than 6,000 infants per year and treats more high-risk infants daily than any hospital in Los Angeles, San Diego or Orange Counties.
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor