No one
should have to walk alone
This
is the philosophy of the Shriners Hospitals for Children, a 22-hospital
pediatric healthcare system which provides excellent, no-cost medical
care to children with orthopaedic problems or burn injuries.
Since its founding, the
Shrine has always been involved in charitable activities, and in the
early 1900s, when the Shrine became a truly international
organization, desire grew for the Shrine to establish an official
Shrine philanthropy.
In 1919, Shriners at the
Imperial Council Session (the annual Shrine convention) voted to
establish a "Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children," to
treat orthopaedic injuries, diseases and birth defects in children. It
was to be supported by a yearly $2 assessment from each Shriner. The
committee named to determine the site and personnel for the Shriners
Hospital decided, after months of research and debate, that there
should be not just one hospital but a network of hospitals throughout
North America. It was an idea that appealed to the Shriners, who liked
to do things in a big and colorful way. When the committee brought its
proposal to the 1921 Imperial Session in Des Moines, Iowa, it too was
passed.
The first Shriners
Hospital opened in Shreveport,
La., in 1922, and by the end of that decade, 13 more hospitals were in
operation. The number of orthopaedic hospitals eventually reached 19
with the opening of the Shriners Hospital in Tampa,
Fla., in 1985. Today, the orthopaedic
Shriners Hospitals serve as major referral centers for complex and
highly specialized orthopaedic treatments for children
Orthopaedic
Care
Nineteen Shriners Hospitals
provide orthopaedic care and rehabilitation to children with congenital
orthopaedic deformities, problems resulting from orthopaedic injuries,
and diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
Shriners Hospitals were
among the first children's specialty hospitals in North America, and
their pioneering efforts have earned them an international reputation in
orthopaedic medicine and research.
Shriners Hospitals treat
children in a family-centered environment, recognizing that while
medicine might heal the child's body, tending to the child's sense of
well being is equally important. The family is involved in the child's
treatment, and each patient finds special support in meeting the
challenges of his or her particular problem.
The medical staffs of
Shriners Hospitals include pediatricians, urologists, neurosurgeons,
plastic surgeons, geneticists, and other specialists to ensure
comprehensive care for children with associated medical problems. The
interdisciplinary medical team includes physicians, nurses, physical,
occupational and recreational therapists, specially trained orthotic and
prosthetic technicians, nutritionists, gait lab specialists, and other
medical personnel.
Burn Care
Each year, thousands of
children suffer burn-related accidents from one of the greatest hazards
of childhood.
In the 1960s, recognizing
the lack of medical expertise in the burn care field, the Shrine of
North America opened three Shriners Hospitals with the three-fold
purpose of treating severely burned children; conducting research and
improving methods of burn treatment; and training and educating medical
personnel in the care and treatment of burn injuries. In 1997, a new
Shriners Hospital opened in Sacramento, Calif., providing burn treatment
in addition to orthopaedic and spinal cord injury care.
Today, Shriners Hospitals
remain pioneers in burn treatment and provide excellent medical care to
severely burned children. These institutes are actively involved in
research, and many of the advances in burn care have been the result of
Shrine investigations. Since the Shriners Hospitals specializing in burn
care first opened, the survival rate for children with burns over 50
percent of their total body surface area has doubled. Today, these
specialized hospitals are saving the lives of children with burns over
more than 90 percent of body surface area.
This impressive survival
rate has been achieved through today's improved surgical procedures,
medical technology and the coordinated efforts of many hospital staff
members.
The treatment of burn
injuries has advanced so dramatically in the past three decades that the
Shriners Hospitals are now routinely saving the lives of patients who,
in the past, almost certainly would have died. However, now that their
medical needs can be met, these burn injury survivors face another
challenge: that of returning to normal life in a society that places
tremendous emphasis on physical appearance.
The burn care professionals
at Shriners Hospitals have turned their attention to helping these
patients function more normally in society. Some of the special programs
that have been developed to address this need are the Reentry Program,
Make-up Clinics, and Camp Ability.
Spinal Cord Injury
Rehabilitation
Thousands of young people
are paralyzed from spinal cord injuries each year. The Shrine of North
America established three special rehabilitation units where young
people with spinal cord injuries can find hope, strength, inspiration
and the specialized medical care needed for rehabilitation.
In 1980, after more than 60
years of treating children with orthopaedic problems and burn injuries,
the Shrine realized the unmet need of specialized care and
rehabilitation for children suffering from spinal cord injuries. In
1980, Shriners Hospitals opened their first Spinal Cord Injury
Rehabilitation Unit for children at the Shriners Hospital in
Philadelphia.
Spinal cord injuries occur
as a result of a neck or back injury and can cause partial or total
paralysis. The Shrine's spinal cord injury units are among the few
rehabilitation units in the United States specifically designed to meet
the needs of children and teenagers who sustain these injuries.
The Shrine's spinal cord
injury units provide long-term rehabilitative care and intensive
physical, occupational and recreational therapy, to help spinal cord
injured children relearn the basic skills of everyday life. Counseling
is also provided to the patients, helping kids learn to cope with their
injury and rediscover the fulfilling life that lies ahead for them. The
rehabilitative programs are intense. Patients spend several hours each
day relearning the skills of everyday life — how to dress, brush their
teeth and feed themselves.
