Northern California boasts many unparalleled gems, including spectacular scenery, a robust business climate and extensive educational and recreational opportunities. But if you’re the parent of a child suffering from severe burns, a spinal cord injury or disfiguring scars, the prized jewel in our crown is Shriners Hospital for Children–Northern California, a world-class facility that,alone among the 22 Shriners hospitals in North America, offers treatment for all of the conditions covered by the organization’s charter.
The story of Shriners hospitals is almost as fantastic as the images conjured up by men in fezzes meeting under the auspices of “The Imperial Council of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.” The first Shriners hospital opened in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1922 to support the Masonic fraternity’s philanthropic mission of providing care for “crippled” children. The goal was ambitious: to ensure universal access to health care for the nation’s children. Another hospital opened the next year in San Francisco offering the same level of free care to children on the West Coast.
Today, the hospitals have evolved into the last word in state-of-the-art treatment of specialized children’s medical conditions, including orthopedics, spinal cord injury treatment and rehabilitation, acute burn treatment and rehabilitation, and plastic surgery for birthmarks, scars and congenital ear abnormalities. These institutions attract the finest physicians and researchers, and partner with the best teaching hospitals across the nation. The Northern California facility (shrinershq.org/Hospitals/Northern_California/), which moved in 1997 to an architecturally stunning edifice on Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento, draws patients from all over the western United States, as well as from Canada and Mexico.
“We’ve come a long way from where we started,” says Alan Anderson, Director of Development for the Northern California hospital. “We are now the leader in specialized care, the hospital of choice for patients with these types of conditions.”
To call Shriners a “hospital” is almost a misnomer. Walking into the open, sun-filled atrium of the Northern California facility is like entering a luxury hotel. One floor, in fact, is set aside for housing out-of-town families. The second level features an open recreation area in which patients can shoot hoops, do arts and crafts and just “be kids.” “What allows for the transformation of kids at Shriners,” explains Anderson, “is that there are no intermediaries telling the kids what they can’t do. The kids here are treated like normal kids; they go out into the world and become productive members of society.”
“The kids are active participants in all activities here,” says Catherine Curran, Director of Public and Community Relations. “Through therapeutic recreation, they get used to feeling what it’s like to be in the real world.” This is reinforced by the very successful School Reentry Program, whereby children are introduced back into their schools through assemblies at which Shriners staff talk openly with the student body about the returning students’ conditions and limitations. Educators frequently visit the hospital to learn from doctors and therapists how best to reintegrate patients into the school environment.
The Shriners mission includes a significant community outreach component. The hospital offers burn prevention programs in schools, forums on careers in health care for high school students, and a monthly lecture series – open to the public – on various health care topics. One of the strongest community bridges is the hospital’s partnership with the UC Davis School of Medicine. Many of the physicians at Shriners hospital are members of the university faculty. Residents at the medical school receive invaluable training in specialized treatment at Shriners, and often go on to work at Shriners or to refer their own patients to Shriners. The UC Davis partnership has enabled Shriners to benefit from research grants awarded to the school.
Shriners hospitals have treated some 835,000 children over the years at a cost of more than seven billion dollars. With an annual budget of $721 million, or about two million per day, the hospitals continue to rely solely on private contributions to provide care at no charge to every child – regardless of income level – whose condition falls within the scope of services offered.
How they do this is the ultimate hat – or fez – trick. The original seed money for the program, a very generous gift of one million dollars back in 1920, was wisely invested to establish an endowment fund that has grown through ongoing donations and continued investments. More than 80 percent of donations come from individuals; corporate donors account for a smaller percentage. “We’re able to provide some very sophisticated giving opportunities,” says Anderson, “because we have 85 years of history. We can work with donors to set up charitable trusts and other tax-advantaged donation vehicles.” Anderson (asanderson@shrinenet.org) is quick to point out that 94 cents out of every dollar that is donated to the hospital goes directly to patient care, and hints at a future fundraiser that will spotlight the hospital and draw donors from across Northern California.
Volunteerism is a huge factor in the Shriners success story. Community volunteers assist with recreational activities, tutor patients who would otherwise fall behind in their schoolwork and even work behind the scenes in various clerical roles. “We have volunteers in just about every department of the hospital,” says Lillian Nelson, manager of volunteer services (lnelson@shrinenet.org). “The beauty of this hospital is that even though it’s a big building, it’s really very small. No matter where you are, you’ll have the opportunity to interact with kids.” The roster of active volunteers numbers almost 500; this does not include those who work at special events or organizations, such as school groups who perform holiday music in the atrium of the hospital. Although the minimum age for volunteering is 18, the hospital offers a summer program for students ages 16 to 18. Slots for that program fill quickly; the deadline for applying is April 1.
Shriners Hospital deserves a place high on the list of what makes this region unique. Unlike the coastal tides or the Sierra snows, this is a resource that will be touching lives for generations to come.
