Wellness, revolutionized. - Children's Hospital Central California

A solid
foundation.
In addition to Paramount Farms, The
Berberians, Mrs. Willson, The Guilds of
Children’s Hospital, and the Smittcamps,
several others became early Campaign
supporters. Ruiz Foods, Margaret
Bennett, The Radin Foundation, Matty
Matoian and Family and Bank of America
all jumped on board to launch The
Campaign with major gifts.
Why the need?
Children’s Hospital has experienced
significant growth in virtually every
service area since it relocated to its new
campus in 1998, growing from 230 to
338 beds today. There are between 200
and 300 children in our inpatient units
every day and 200,000 outpatient visits
annually. Currently, there are nearly 1.2
million kids (age 0 to 17) in our service
area and over the next five years population
growth in our area is expected
to increase by nearly twice the national
average.
“Sick kids don’t take a day off,” said
Peggy Dunlap, Campaign Coordinator
for The Campaign for Children’s. “And
neither do we.”
For more information on The
Campaign and ways to give, go to
ChildrensCentralCal.org/HelpTheChildren.
More about helping kids . . .
Whole-hearted support.
Alexandria Cordova’s family’s
world was turned upside
down after her birth in 2005
when she was diagnosed with
Down syndrome and two lifethreatening
congenital heart
conditions. Alexandria’s
pediatrician detected a heart
murmur and referred her to
The Willson Heart Center at
Children’s Hospital. An echocardiogram
revealed major
abnormalities.
“There were a lot of
emotions,” said her father,
Roy Cordova. “We didn’t
know what was going on.”
“She had a combination
of a severe case of the
narrowing of the aorta,
decreasing the blood flow to
her lower body, and a very
large hole in her heart,” said
Dr. Edwin Petrossian, Children’s
medical director of
Cardiothoracic Surgery. “The
combination of both of these
conditions caused her heart
to become enlarged and
weakened.”
“She was hours, maybe
days away from a life-threatening
decomposition,” said Dr.
Petrossian, who has extensive
expertise in complex pediatric
and congenital cardiovascular
surgical repairs. “If she had
not been referred here and
seen early enough, she would
have passed out, become pale
and unresponsive, and gone
into cardiac arrest.”
Alexandria was admitted
to the Hospital’s Pediatric
Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
where intensivist Dr. Adam
Birek put her on medication,
allowing her heart to get
stronger in preparation for
surgery.
Dr. Petrossian removed
the narrow portion of Alexandria’s
aorta and connected
the wide portions above and
below the narrow portion,
allowing normal blood flow to
her lower body. He also used a
piece of the sack surrounding
Alexandria’s heart to patch
the hole. She was only two
weeks old.
Children’s helped turn
the family’s world right side
up again. Touched by the care
they received, the Cordovas
donated $10,000 in 2006
and another $10,000 to The
Campaign for Children’s in
2009.
“We can’t thank this
Hospital enough,” said her
mother, Michele. “We are
grateful to Children’s for
saving our daughter’s life and
want to support the Hospital’s
growth.”
Now 5, Alexandria is
doing well and has no symptoms.
She sees Dr. James
Prochazka at The Willson
Heart Center once a year
and will need to be monitored
by a cardiologist for the rest
of her life.
“There are a lot of non-profits out there,
but Children’s is right around the corner.
You can see what your gift does,” said Roy.
“There’s not enough we can do to give back
to the Hospital, telling people about our
experience goes a long way.”
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