Our Story

An Exceptional Need, Close to Home

Recently, the Chapel Hill community came together to support 10-year-old Lee Fitch after a moving vehicle struck him and broke his ribs, back, and skull, leaving him barely breathing and with a severe concussion.

Lee was stabilized at the UNC Children’s pediatric intensive care unit. But that was just the beginning. As PICU Chief Benny Joyner, MD, says of brain injuries like Lee’s: “Time is brain.”

The PICU saves lives. But rehabilitation determines the quality of that saved life. Joyner says rehab must start immediately and that the stakes are extremely high.

The Fitch Family was shocked to discover that UNC Children’s does not have a comprehensive pediatric rehabilitation center. After much worrying and scrambling, Lee was forced to travel by ambulance to Atlanta for rehab. He was extremely lucky that his family could make this happen and that his dad could come with him.

Unfortunately, due to scarcity and demand of rehab centers, many children like Lee Fitch in the Triangle aren’t so lucky.

At the time this campaign was started, and this sentence written, three children are waiting for an open bed in a rehab center. Day in and day out, they wait. Their conditions require that they remain hospitalized. The clock ticks. And time is brain.

Enough is enough.

Help us create the Fitch Family Comprehensive Pediatric Rehabilitation Program at UNC Children’s to ensure that kids like Lee receive the care they need right here in the center of North Carolina, allowing for healing while being surrounded by their loving family and community.

Every day, a child is admitted to UNC Children’s to receive care for a medical condition or traumatic event that has the potential to adversely affect them and their family for the rest of their lives.

Often, the excellent and timely care provided by pediatric experts from UNC Children’s leads to a full and complete recovery. In many other instances, however, hospitalized children can face months, years and sometimes lifetimes dealing with medical issues and dependence on others to complete even simple tasks.

Please join us today to change the course for countless kids.

For more information, please contact:

Keela Lyon, Senior Executive Director of Development
UNC Health Foundation
919-928-6435
keela_lyon@med.unc.edu

Comprehensive Pediatric Rehabilitation

The Fitch Family Comprehensive Pediatric Rehabilitation Program at UNC Children’s aims to provide both inpatient and outpatient services across the entire continuum of care, including:

• Coordinated, multidisciplinary rehabilitative care that begins soon after initial admission to the hospital;
• Comprehensive acute inpatient pediatric rehabilitation;
• Day rehab programs; and
• Outpatient medical and therapy visits at a state-of-the-art pediatric rehabilitation center.

In addition, patients will receive virtual follow-ups through telemedicine, teletherapy and home health services, ensuring that these children regain the quality of life that has been threatened by disease or trauma.

The Fitch Family Comprehensive Pediatric Rehabilitation Program at UNC Children’s would include critical healing spaces and equipment as well as allow us to attract the best specialists in pediatric rehabilitation medicine (PRM), pediatric therapies and related specialties to Chapel Hill to treat, educate and support these families.

Our goal for all children across our state is the same as our goal for Lee – to provide the compassionate care necessary to grow up happy, healthy and independent. With your support, we can reach our $20 million goal and begin to create transformational change for vulnerable children and their families.

Campaign Progress

Our friends and supporters have already had a huge impact on our progress! To date, we have raised more than $2 million toward our Phase 1 goal of $3 million. These funds will enable care coordination and family support, two vital aspects of treating pediatric rehab patients right here in Chapel Hill!