Goryeb Children’s Hospital

Support from the Goryeb Philanthropy Council and our community of donors helps to advance educational needs and enhance programs at this specialized children’s hospital.

The new Hersh Fetal Diagnostic and Treatment Center at Morristown Medical Center will provide a comprehensive program for pregnant women whose babies have congenital anomalies or other fetal complications. The HFDTC will offer coordinated access to multidisciplinary care by clinical experts whose sole focus is to keep both mother and baby healthy before, during and after birth. The new patient-centered facility at 55 Madison Avenue will centralize patient care services, expand diagnostic capabilities and create a welcoming and comforting patient care environment. Philanthropy from donors such as the Gagnon Family Foundation, the Arthur M. Goldberg and Veronica Goldberg Foundation and the Dorothy B. Hersh Foundation is helping to move this vital initiative forward.

With charitable giving from donors in 2023, the Child Life Program at Goryeb Children’s Hospital will be expanded to meet increasing patient volumes. Certified Child Life specialists help young patients and their families cope with the stress and fear of acute and chronic illness, injury, trauma, disability, loss and bereavement. They deliver developmentally and psychologically appropriate interventions, which can include preparing for a medical procedure, therapeutic play and education to reduce fear, anxiety and pain. Donor funding will add three positions to the Child Life team, including two certified Child Life specialists, a Child Life assistant and increased hours for the program’s music therapist.

In 2023, the Juniors Fore Goryeb committee donated proceeds raised from their sixth annual golf outing to benefit Goryeb Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Music Therapy Program. Although the event couldn’t go on as planned due to smoke from the Canadian wildfires, these unstoppable teens still raised $30,000!

Tested in one of the largest depression studies ever conducted, IMPACT (Improving Mood: Promoting Access to Collaborative Treatment) is a true integration of care and collaboration of mental health and primary care providers. In this model, all patients are screened for anxiety and depression during a new patient or annual appointment with their doctor. If a patient screens positive based on evidence-based evaluation tools, a behavioral health clinician sees that patient during their visit to further assess them for depression, anxiety, substance misuse or other mental health concerns.

If a diagnosis is made, the behavioral health clinician collaborates with the patient’s physician to develop a treatment plan, begins short-term psychotherapy and collaborates with a consulting psychiatrist who can recommend medication that is prescribed by the doctor. Donor funding in 2023, including a gift from the Barer Family Foundation, will assist with the salary of a pediatric behavioral health clinician and child psychiatrist consult time for patients within the Atlantic Behavioral Health Pediatric Collaborative Care Program at Morristown Medical Center.

All pediatric cancer medications dispensed to patients are done through Morristown Medical Center’s adult oncology pharmacy, located in a separate building from the pediatric cancer center. This causes several logistical problems, including the long wait time – sometimes two or more hours – before patients receive their medication, adding more stress to an already stressful time.

Philanthropic funding will create a pediatric hematology and oncology pharmacy service dedicated exclusively to our young cancer patients with a board-certified pediatric oncology pharmacist specially trained to identify the right therapy and optimal dosage for each patient, reduce side effects and minimize the late effects of treatment.

The Fighting Children’s Cancer Foundation supports families of patients at the Valerie Fund Children’s Center by helping with the costs of transportation, mortgages, rent, utilities and related essential home expenses during the child’s cancer treatment. The foundation also assists during the holidays so families can enjoy this special time despite the challenges of pediatric cancer and its treatment.

Many parents and caregivers of pediatric patients with cancer or blood disorders face dire financial situations after an unexpected and prolonged hospital stay. Thanks to philanthropy, the Good Neighbor Fund has helped thousands of families with financial assistance to offset daily living expenses, gas and electric bills, childcare costs, mortgage or rent payments and pharmaceutical purchases so they can focus on the most important task – helping their child heal.