Houston Texans Quarterback Matt Schaub Presents $100,000+ Gift for Child Life Playroom at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus
Schaub’s GR8 Hope Foundation donates funds raised from a golf tournament and gala to equip a second playroom at new pediatric hospital
Matt Schaub and his wife, Laurie, visited Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus today and presented the new community hospital with a $108,000 donation on behalf of the couple’s GR8 Hope Foundation. The donation will be used to equip and furnish a Child Life playroom on the third floor of West Campus, Houston’s first community hospital designed, built and equipped exclusively for children. The hospital currently has a completed Child Life playroom on its second floor.
The Schaubs, accompanied by members of the foundation’s board, presented the check to Mark A. Wallace, president and CEO of Texas Children’s Hospital; Michelle Riley-Brown, vice president of Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus; and Dr. Charles T. Hankins, chief medical officer of Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus.
“We are thankful for the generosity and inspiration of Laurie and Matt Schaub,” said Wallace. “They know what it means for a child to be cared for in a hospital fully dedicated to children, with facilities designed just for them. The playroom is an area where children can be with their families, play with other children and interact with a team of highly trained and motivated Child Life specialists.”
After volunteering at Texas Children’s for several years with the Houston Texans, the Schaubs became enamored with the Child Life department and its dedication to create as normal of an environment as
possible for children in the hospital. The couple created their GR8 Hope Foundation to provide resources, support, hope and happiness for children with medical needs and their families.
“When we visited the hospital, the one place where we saw nonstop smiles was in the playroom and that’s why we decided to direct our attention to the Child Life program,” said Matt Schaub. “People often don’t realize that playing, laughing and interacting with other kids can help the healing and recovery process for children.”
In addition to coordinating playroom activity, Texas Children’s Child Life Department also coordinates bedside play and special events. These activities are initiated by highly trained child life specialists with the intent of normalizing the hospital environment for patients and their siblings.
“Our goal is to help manage children’s stress and help them heal faster with less long-term psychological effects,” said Sarah Rowe, a Child Life specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. “It is important for our patients to play and the playroom gives children a chance to forget about why they are in the hospital. That’s why we’re so appreciative of the Schaubs’ gift.”
Differentiating itself from other hospitals that provide pediatric care, Texas Children’s has one of the largest child life departments in the country with more than 30 child life professionals on staff, including a dedicated team for West Campus.
Located at I-10 and Barker Cypress, the 515,000-square-foot Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus houses the only 24/7 pediatric emergency room in the Greater West Houston area and provides inpatient and outpatient pediatric care. The attached outpatient clinic offers 15 pediatric subspecialty practices ranging from physical/occupational and speech therapy to cardiology and oncology. A Texas Children’s Pediatric Associates primary care practice is also on site.
For more information about Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus or to learn how to support the hospital, visit www.westcampus.texaschildrens.org . Please mention you found this on www.KatyMagazine.com.
