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The Coaches for Kids Fund is named for and dedicated to area coaches
supporting children’s healthcare in mid-Michigan. Local coaches such as:
- MSU Men’s Head Basketball Coach Tom Izzo
- MSU Head Hockey Coach Rick Comley
- MSU Head Volleyball Coach Chuck Erbe
- MSU Head Women’s Softball Coach Jacquie Joseph and
- MSU Athletic Director Ron Mason
These local coaches have teamed up with community members, local high school athletic directors and athletes to
help Sparrow raise funds for the pediatric emergency room, including a separate waiting room
for pediatric patients and their families.
To date, Coaches for Kids has raised more than $2 million toward the multimillion-dollar expansion of the Sparrow Emergency & Trauma Center,
which opened in 2008. The Coaches for Kids Fund is part of Sparrow’s affiliation with
Children’s Miracle Network, an international not-for-profit
organization raising funds for 170 children’s hospitals.
Why a Separate Pediatric Emergency Room?
The Sparrow Emergency Department treats more than 70,000 patients annually, and more than 17,000 of them are
children age 17 and younger. Not only are pediatric doctors and nurses necessary for an accurate diagnosis,
specialized training and equipment also are necessary for examining their small, developing bodies.
The greatest difference may be that children do not come to the ER alone. One or two parents as well as
siblings usually make the trip to the Emergency department whenever a child needs emergency care. This means
additional seating and amusements for children are needed to ease the stress on the entire family.
Protecting children from the sometimes frightening sights and sounds of a busy emergency room is even more
important than additional space.
Recent increases in the number of emergency and trauma patients (nearly 40 percent since 1989) are placing new
demands on Sparrow’s Emergency department staff, budgets and workspace. Sparrow draws patients from 11
counties over a 100-mile radius, treating everything from bumps and bruises to life-threatening accidents and
diseases. It’s the busiest hospital for children’s visits in mid-Michigan. The Sparrow Emergency
Department team includes 24-hour on-call pediatric trauma surgeons and pediatric intensive care specialists,
nurses specially trained in pediatric advanced life support (PALS) and 16 emergency physicians, several of whom
have received board-certification in both pediatric and adult emergency care.
“After 6 p.m., about 40 percent of our patients are kids,” says Dr. Stephen Guertin, a Sparrow
pediatric intensive care specialist and medical director of the Sparrow Children’s Center. “Having a
pediatric emergency room helps the hospital enhance its services for children. It’s what the community
deserves.”
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