Three years ago, we established a fund at MJHS Health System in Louie’s memory. Our hope was that this fund would support those in need of pediatric hospice care as well as the clinicians who care for the patients and their families by providing outreach, education, and training opportunities.
Today’s contribution to The Louis Arturo Rago Memorial Fund will help ensure this outstanding, compassionate, invaluable care can continue into the future.
We are happy to report that these initiatives are well underway, and we couldn’t have done it without your generosity; thank you! Since its establishment, together we have raised close to $45,000 for The Louis Arturo Rago Memorial Fund, and we continue to be blown away by your generosity and support. This fund has become a way for us to celebrate what would have been Louie’s birthday and we hope you will join us again in supporting this worthy cause in honor of his 6th birthday.
It is extremely difficult to be reminded that pediatric hospice and palliative care exists. The sensitive nature and emotional weight of this topic leads to a lack of awareness, understanding and support around pediatric hospice and palliative care. Until MJHS entered our lives, we rarely felt that we had the appropriate support to not only physically care for Louie but to also cope emotionally and psychologically. MJHS truly made our lives better, during a time which seemed hopeless. Nurses and doctors prioritized Louie’s comfort; social workers played with our daughter and gave us the vocabulary to discuss our unthinkable situation. MJHS and their clinicians are brave and compassionate people who sat and talked to us, listened to our thoughts, and helped in any way they could. MJHS cared for Louie, while also providing precious support to our entire family, enabling us to spend quality time together.
MJHS has continued to invest in building the pediatric program, with a goal of training more clinicians to care for the unique needs of pediatric patients and their families. Over the last year, MJHS has continued to focus on staff pediatric education and has successfully trained all adult nurses to have basic competency in Pediatric Hospice. MJHS now has two full-time nurse champions that support pediatric families in their catchment areas and will have two additional full-time nurses by the end of the summer. They have also added a child life specialist, a health care professional who helps children and families navigate the process of their illness, to their team. For the first time ever, MJHS will be fully staffed for nursing. These accomplishments are supported by the generosity of supporters to Louie’s fund.
Please join us in helping MJHS keep up the momentum in 2023. We are thankful to everyone who made a gift last year. A gift today to The Louis Arturo Rago Memorial Fund will help ensure this wonderful, compassionate, critical care can continue and provide support for other families in need of MJHS’s invaluable services and skills.
Thank you for celebrating Louie’s birthday with us.
Warmly,
Emily & Greg
