Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Hosts 20th Birthday Celebration

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More than 2,000 people gathered at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood on Saturday, September 7, to celebrate the facility’s 20 Birthday Celebration. The festive event featured a wide range of activities, from sand art, a petting zoo and a photo booth to musical performances and Super Hero appearances. Some took advantage of hospital tours while others stopped by food trucks for dinner or settled in for a movie under the stars.

“We were thrilled to have such a wonderful turnout at the event,” said Nina Beauchesne, FACHE, administrator of Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and Pediatric Services at Memorial Healthcare System. “It demonstrates the tremendous community support we’ve experienced since we first opened our doors in 1992.”

One of the hospital’s biggest fans was Yankee Clipper, Joe DiMaggio. His commitment was recognized at the celebration by U.S. Postal Service District Manager Jeffrey Becker and Michael Lloyd, Hollywood Officer-In-Charge, when they presented Beauchesne and DiMaggio’s friend, Morris Engelberg, with an enlargement of the new Joe DiMaggio “Forever” stamp.

According to Engelberg, DiMaggio gave his name and fundraising efforts to support a children’s hospital at Memorial Regional, making clear the one caveat to all of his support: 

Since that time, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital has become the leading children’s hospital in Broward and Palm Beach counties, and a regional pediatric specialty facility – part of Memorial Regional Hospital, one of Florida’s largest hospitals and the flagship facility of Memorial Healthcare System. On July 21, 2011, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital expanded and opened its doors as a new freestanding facility across from its parent hospital in a building specially designed for children and families.

The freestanding hospital is a four-story, 180,000-square-foot facility that showcases an overall “Power of Play” theme with each floor displaying themes of Sports, Arts, Games and Dreams. It is connected to Memorial Regional Hospital via an elevated walkway with a total of 204 licensed beds, six pediatric operating rooms, radiology services and an entire floor dedicated to pediatric oncology care.

As a full-service, patient- and family-centered hospital, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital creates a healing environment where kids can be kids and parents are partners in care. The advanced facility is staffed 24 hours a day by pediatricians, pediatric specialists, specialty-trained nurses and support staff.

“One of the keys to our success has been truly listening to our patients and their families and incorporating their feedback into our plans,” explained Beauchesne.

It is the home to Broward and Palm Beach counties’ only pediatric heart transplant program, performing the first pediatric cardiac catheterization and open heart surgery in Broward and Palm Beach counties. It also comprised the region’s largest diversity of board-certified pediatric specialists and has Emergency Departments in Hollywood, Miramar and Pembroke Pines.

Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is also home to one of the state’s few nationally accredited cystic fibrosis centers, a nationally recognized asthma program ranked third in the United States and features U18 Sports Medicine for young athletes.

For more information about Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and the community event, visit JDCH.com.

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