OhioHealth Partners With Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio To Provide Compassionate Care
The Ronald McDonald House Charities of central Ohio is a nonprofit organization that provides comfort and care for families with children in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) as well as mothers in postpartum or high-risk obstetric care.
OhioHealth is a proud sponsor of the Ronald McDonald House and Ronald McDonald Family Room at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, supporting children and families who are receiving care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The room was designed to give families a home away from home while going through such a challenging time.
Kate Becker, Chief Program Officer at Ronald McDonald House Charities of central Ohio, said, “We designed our family rooms to be a home-like area of respite within the hospitals; we wanted it to have a home-like feel. We want them to disconnect take a moment recharge grab whatever they need to get, grab and get back to the bedside.”
Luke and Emily Gallimore welcomed their first child into the world on August 26 at Riverside Methodist Hospital. Quickly after being born, their daughter, Ella, was admitted to the NICU at Riverside Methodist to receive respiratory support and care for an infection.
“A whirlwind, it was. I had waited 9 months for my little girl, and she had come into the world, and it was not how I was expecting,” Emily said.
“It was probably some of the hardest days of our time together, my personal life. It was overwhelming and there was no way to prepare for it. My wife was discharged, and we were walking out and didn’t have our baby girl we didn’t know what to do because we weren’t prepared, it hit us really hard,” Luke said.
In these critical first moments, time is precious. Many must drive a distance to travel to the hospital, and being away from your newborn for any amount of time can cause immense stress. Luke and Emily know this struggle firsthand, as they live over an hour away from Riverside Methodist, making the commute extremely challenging.
“Leaving the hospital without my little girl was something that I never thought I’d have to do and so I couldn’t imagine what it would’ve been like to have gone home and have been home without her,” Emily said.
“For this time, this is where we’re going to take route and we’re going to get the gift of time with our daughter because we’re not going to be driving back and forth because it just wouldn’t have been feasible to make the trip,” Luke said. “In-between the long days and nights when we needed to come recharge or get some rest or a snack or meal this was the home for the past two weeks.”
In 2024, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio served 4808 families at the House. This year, they are close to helping 3,700 families thus far.
“We’re really focused on community, and making sure our families have somebody to talk to, have a shared experience with the people around them because they’re going to have a better experience if they feel well supported,” Becker said.
In 2024, the partnership between the Riverside Methodist Family Room supported more than 1,400 families. During their time in the hospital, families are provided with a rest area, snacks, complimentary laundry machines, showers and a work area, to make the transitional period less frightening and more comfortable.
“It’s really been a blessing… It’s really felt like a home away from home,” Luke and Emily said.
