Opening day
Close to home
“We are thrilled that Driscoll has opened its doors and we are helping kids,” said Dr. Ana Almeda, chief medical officer for Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley. This milestone highlights the hospital’s impact on a region where specialized pediatric care has long been fragmented and scarce. Dr. Almeda, a pediatric intensivist, knows the struggles families in the RGV face when accessing pediatric services. Growing up in Brownsville and training in San Antonio, she returned to the Valley to provide critical care. “I’ve seen the challenges our patients and families have had to face without having a designated children’s hospital,” she said. “Some facilities may have certain specialties or services, but never has it all been in one place.” Services and treatment offered by Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley include acute inpatient and outpatient surgery with pediatric anesthesiologists; emergency services and a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; imaging and laboratory services; and more.
Before Driscoll Children’s Hospital opened in the RGV, families often had to travel long distances for specialized care. That reality hit close to home for Dr. Almeda. “My own son had a medical need, and we had to drive four hours to San Antonio for an outpatient procedure,” she said. “He woke up from anesthesia, nauseated and just wanting to see his dogs. It’s really hard when you’re far from home and without your support network.” Driscoll sees more than 150,000 patients a year, and many regularly made the journey from the Valley to Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi to receive specialty care. The new hospital aims to eliminate these challenges by providing comprehensive pediatric services locally. Hayden Featherstone Wilson, a longtime patient of Driscoll who is now receiving care at Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley, is one such patient whose journey of healing has been made easier. Her mother Karen Featherstone shared her daughter’s medical journey with a rare spinal condition called Sacral Agenesis. “It’s been a whirlwind from the moment she took her first breath,” Featherstone said of her daughter, now finishing her first year of high school. “Although things are steady at this stage of life, it obviously hasn’t been an easy road.”
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SUMMER 2024 DRISCOLL LIFE
driscollchildrens.org
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