Kate Semp, Richmond mom and health-care advocate
“Kids are not little adults. There are many facets of dealing with kids beyond their physical size that makes caring for them unique. Although I trained to be an EMT in thinking of one day becoming a physician’s assistant, this was never more clear to me until I became a parent,” says Richmond mom and concerned Richmonder Kate Semp.
That’s why this Thursday, March 29, 2012, all day–friends and supporters of a new Children’s Hospital in Richmond, like Kate, are coordinating an effort to show support and raise awareness for this effort. This includes a walk around at The Jefferson Hotel with friends of all ages, details here: BetterChildrensHospital
Semp elaborates: “This need {for a children’s hospital} even hit closer to home when my son was in a situation that required
extensive medical follow-up. He sat in a waiting room full of adults. The crash cart ‘had pediatric equipment available’. And my 3-year old went to recovery in an area he was the only pediatric patient.
He was brave. I was upset. The environment was not set up for him. He was a token of all the patients being seen.”
Gayle Smith, MD, a fierce proponent of a stand-alone Children's Hospital in Richmond
Pediatrician Gayle Smith, M.D. has repeatedly campaigned for this effort for several years, stating that Richmond needs a complete-care Children’s Hospital where Richmond has the best pediatric providers in each speciality together under one roof.
States Smith, “there have been many attempts at partnering on a Children’s Hospital for Richmond, but the culture of the pediatric medical community, affectionately referred to as Town and Gown, have precluded collaboration on this effort. I just wonder if the pressure to do what’s right for children might come from the community this time?”
Smith feels that Richmond’s current options are not adequate, and that if the powerful medical practicioners in Richmond banded together our resources could be much better used. “Transparency has its value, and the foolishness of the negotiations and the men who can’t figure out a way to build and run a hospital may be one way to move the mountain.”
The key, says Smith, is in the parents themselves, who are ultimately the number one advocates for their children. “I guarantee if you handed all the numbers and the need and 250 million dollars to the mothers in the carpool line and told them that everyone else has a children’s hospital, there would be none of the foolishness. They’d know where to build it, who would run it, who would make what financial sacrifices in the short and the long run. . .and we’d have a hospital for our children.”
For more details, a site will soon be live at ikidshealth.org.
