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Ronald McDonald House In Raleigh – First Year, First Miracles

Bookmark and Share Raleigh, N.C. - June 21, 2016 -

On April 15, the Ronald McDonald House located within WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh celebrated its one-year anniversary. The residential hospitality program offers overnight lodging, laundry and meals for the families of up to five pediatric patients each day.

In its first year of operation, the Ronald McDonald House helped 99 children and their families.

When Campbell Reed was born at 36 weeks with a premature lung and a lung infection, her parents, Katie and Eric, needed overnight lodging closer than a hotel room, and they needed more comfort than the NICU waiting area could offer while their daughter underwent extensive treatments from doctors to treat her infection.

The day after Campbell was born, Katie and Eric found the Ronald McDonald House at WakeMed. “Having one less worry of finding a place to stay or being away from her…that’s an extreme comfort,” says mother Katie.

The new house joins an established in-hospital program, the Ronald McDonald Family Room that offers respite to the caregivers of all pediatric patients at WakeMed Children’s Hospital. The Family Room at WakeMed welcomed 5,140 visitors in 2015.

Both the Ronald McDonald House and Family Room programs are designed to keep families close to their children when they are sick and need their loved ones most.

Executive director, Oie Osterkamp, calls the new Raleigh house “a natural extension of our efforts to support seriously ill children in Wake and surrounding counties, mirroring our residential and hospital programs in Durham.” He adds, “We hope this is only the beginning of our support for families seeking healing in Wake County.”

The new Raleigh House is located within WakeMed’s Heart Center Inn, on the third floor of the Heart Center. WakeMed Hospital is located on 3000 New Bern Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27610.

Press Contact

Contact: Nancy Jones
Email: Nancy@RMHDurhamWake.org
Phone: (919) 793-8711