Staff Member Reflects on Care at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia

I have worked at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia for the last 25 years, even though somehow I am only 26 years old! I was originally hired as the director of public relations and started at the original Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia, located on Roosevelt Boulevard. I later transitioned to director of development when the hospital system added the new department of development, or fundraising. I handled fundraising for the Philadelphia hospital as my primary location, as well as the Erie facility as my secondary location.

As a longtime employee, I have watched Shriners Children’s Philadelphia grow as our current facility added departments that were not part of the original location. This has allowed us to treat additional children with more acute conditions. With more departments, the number of employees also increased. I have enjoyed watching the hospital and the Shriners Children's brand grow. I was around when there were no commercials, and now everyone knows us for our very popular patient commercials.

Working at Shriners Children's is special – every day is different! Seeing our kids overcome obstacles and thrive has been incredibly rewarding. Patients and families look forward to their appointments and consider their doctors and care teams as part of their extended families. They love to share special stories and want to tell others how wonderful Shriners Children's has been to them. Many pay it forward and want to help our mission with fundraisers so even more children can be helped. I love seeing and being a part of all of this!

Shriners Children's represents what health care should be – we provide for the patient and family regardless of insurance or their ability to pay. This is what everyone wants, for our families and ourselves. The Shriners Children's mission is priceless. I often hear families say, “Shriners Children's says yes, we are here to help. We don’t hear this at other hospitals.”

A favorite memory of mine from working at the hospital was when we were building our current hospital on North Broad Street. Every employee working at that time was part of the transition and had a special role. It was an exciting time! From planning the groundbreaking to meeting the construction workers who wanted to meet our patients and staff so they knew who they were building the hospital for, to seeing all the lights, sirens and television cameras when we moved each patient from 8400 Roosevelt Boulevard to 3551 North Broad Street. We even had a parade on North Broad Street in addition to an amazing grand opening event.

I love working at Shriners Children's because the patients teach me what is important.