We Stand For Care

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation has announced that it intends to COMMIT up to $100 million for the expansion of the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Their generous donation is MAKING A DIFFERENCE to children’s health by adding 104 new beds to its Palo Alto campus and expands access to state-of-the-art treatments.

“As a foundation born out of Silicon Valley, we are COMMITTED to making the Bay Area a healthy place for kids to grow up, as well as an innovator in pediatric medicine. That vision is at the heart of the Hospital’s expansion, and we are proud to help make it possible,” said Carol Larson, president of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

The new expansion will allow Packard to continue to provide COMPASSIONATE CARE and sustain its mission – to provide the community’s children access to the most advanced cures, treatments, and technologies, performed by the best minds in pediatric medicine, within a family-centered environment. “My mother would be incredibly proud of the growth we’ve seen at the Children’s Hospital,” says Susan Packard Orr, chair of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Christopher Dawes, president and CEO of Packard Children’s, stated, “With our new facility on the horizon, we look forward to providing even more children and families with access to the best in clinical care, education and research. This would not be possible without the ongoing support of our philanthropic community.”

For more information about how the expansion and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, click here.

As she moves confidently through the hallways of Stanford Hospital & Clinics, Rita’s official badge swings back and forth with each step. There’s no MD after her name, but her skills as a healer could justify it. When Rita pays a visit to a patient, the atmosphere instantly brightens.

Rita’s owner and handler, Robert Higa, said “when you see the connection dogs can make. It’s so easy and effortless. You can really see the change you can bring about with a dog.”

Stanford Hospital & Clinics has been MAKING A DIFFERENCE in the lives of patients for more than a decade with Pet-Assisted Wellness at Stanford (PAWS) Program. During their weekly visits, dogs, cats and sometimes rabbits have padded their way into the hearts of patients and staff alike providing COMPASSIONATE CARE.

The program, said Barbara Ralston, the hospital’s vice president for guest services and international medicine, makes an important contribution toward “getting patients well and out of the hospital. It helps normalize their experience. People who have pets really miss their pets. We can’t let their pets in, but we have surrogates for them.”

For more information about the PAWS Program and to read about patient stories, click here.