Children Can’t Wait

Jack Radford, executive director of the WakeMed Foundation, on Children Can’t Wait.

“Children can’t wait.” That’s a message that has been popping up on billboards and advertisements all across town in recent weeks as part of our effort to get more people involved in the campaign to build a new Children’s Hospital at WakeMed.  It will be the first Children’s Hospital in Wake County, providing more specialties and services for children when it opens in 2010.

 We believe that no child should ever have to go to the hospital.  But when they do, they shouldn’t have to wait to get the medical care they need.  That’s not always the case today – children sometimes have to wait for months to see a pediatric specialist and often have to travel out of county to do so – but a new Children’s Hospital will change that.

 The Children Can’t Wait campaign is built around an interactive web site where people in Wake County and surrounding communities are coming together to help raise money for the new children’s hospital.  This is a place where you can show your support for a new children’s hospital, read touching stories about some of the children being treated at WakeMed, or make an online contribution to help us reach our goal of raising $20 million by 2011.  Thanks to the support of 2,380 contributors, we’ve raised more than $6.2 million so far.

This holiday season, consider a gift to help ensure our children won’t have to wait for the health care they need.  You can contribute online at www.childrencantwait.org.  Also, note that today is the last day to vote on Facebook for WakeMed Children’s for the Chase Community Foundation.  If we receive enough votes, WakeMed Children’s could win $1M.