Ronald McDonald House assists families through innovative services during pandemic

Jun. 12—While many services buckled under the weight of the pandemic, Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Four States turned the adversity of COVID-19 into a growing opportunity to assist regional families with sick children.

The local nonprofit organization learned how to adapt and modify its level of care in order to continue its work aiding seriously ill children and expectant mothers who are ill being treated at Freeman Health System and Mercy Hospital.

Ronald McDonald House Charities, 3402 S Jackson Ave. in Joplin, served 100 families affected by COVID-19 in 2020. In a typical prepandemic year, that number of families is approximately 200. Unfortunately, they had to limit operations at both their main house and room at Mercy Hospital.

But the organization came up with innovative ideas to continue to care for families by offering complimentary meals, free or reduced lodging, comfort bags, COVID-19 take-home kits, and methods of transportation.

"The house never closed," said Annette Thurston, executive director at Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Four States. "We just found alternative ways to provide the services that we did. It was more challenging than one would imagine to think outside the box."

Thurston said they're currently operating at 50% capacity until they move onto the next phase. Throughout the pandemic, the local organization has worked with infection control officers at both hospitals daily to ensure their safety protocols are matched with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Visitors are also restricted.

"Typically, we have grandparents, aunts and uncles come to visit here and at the hospital, but this time, it's extremely limited," said Thurston.

Families were given comfort bags, which included a NICU journal, a coloring book, colored pencils, snacks, a blanket, water, a book, as well as a miniature octopus crocheted by a volunteer and that can be given to the newborn.

Family perspectives

Alex Dee, of Girard, Kansas, and her husband, Chris, welcomed their baby girl, Cambri, to the world at 27 weeks and were able to stay with family in the area for a few weeks. Her due date was July 8, but she was delivered on April 11.

During the pandemic, no guests were able to come visit Cambri.

Alex Dee said the Ronald McDonald House gave them the gift of time so they didn't have to worry about driving or from where their next meal was coming. They could solely focus on Cambri and her health. Dee was supported by the organization for roughly three weeks.

"It's been a wonderful experience," she said. "We have food and lodging provided here. And just the company of other people that care. That's the biggest thing."

Without the Ronald McDonald House, Dee said they would have struggled with the commute and the cost of everything, especially for the duration of time Cambri had to stay in the hospital.

Thurston said mom and dad were able to use an app called Angel Eyes, which allows them to log in on their phone and watch Cambri 24/7 in the hospital. It's similar to a baby monitor but with a camera.

"No matter what time it is, I can always see what's going on with her, which was very reassuring," said Alex Dee. "Grandparents can watch too. It has up to 20 users that can log on, so our entire family watches her."

Cambri is now almost 2 months old, and the family on Sunday returned home to Southeast Kansas.

"What we do is that comfort and care, but with the doctors and nurses at our two medical facilities, they produce miracles," said Thurston. "We can't say enough about them."

Baxter Springs, Kan.

Amber and Korey Marrett, of Baxter Springs, had their son, Walker, at 32 weeks in March 2020. He weighed about 3 pounds and stayed in Freeman's NICU for a month. Amber Marrett said in a statement that the Ronald McDonald House became the solutions to challenges they didn't know they'd have as new parents during a global pandemic.

"Ronald McDonald House reminded us that we were not alone on that sometimes very uncertain journey," she said in a statement. "COVID-19 added to our already heightened sense of protection over our baby and our family. All at once, the hospital established policies that would allow only one parent at a time with the NICU babies. Ronald McDonald House gave us a home away from home in that difficult time.

"Home means more than four walls and a bed. Ronald McDonald House gave us a sense of security, comfort and belonging when everything else was new and fragile," she said.

Korey had to return back to work after a week at the house. With COVID-19 on the rise, they had to make the difficult decision to keep Korey isolated from Walker during the remainder of his stay in the NICU. Amber Marrett described the time as lonely but said that the staff at the Ronald McDonald House played an instrumental role in helping her overcome that hardship.

"Each day I would come back from the NICU and enjoy lunch and conversation with the girls at Ronald McDonald House," she said in a statement. "Many evenings were also spent together. They offered me supplies to scrapbook, after learning it was a hobby of mine. They invited a local therapist to come and share coping skills and tips for getting more sleep during stressful times. They surprised me with fresh flowers in my room. They even had me put a baby monitor in my room to keep an eye on me while I was napping one day, because I had been battling really low blood pressure."

The husband and wife ended up staying with the local organization for 20 nights before taking Walker home. Amber Marrett said in a statement that being NICU parents may have never been part of the plan during a pandemic, but the Ronald McDonald House was the silver lining of it all.

"These women have truly beautiful hearts," she said in a statement. "Caring for others comes naturally to them, and I am forever grateful for knowing them."

Osage Beach

Felisa Olivares and Daniel Lopez, of Osage Beach, had their baby, Violetta Lopez, at 25 weeks in October. She weighed roughly 2 pounds. She stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit at Mercy Joplin last year during the pandemic. The parents, who were in town visiting family in Pittsburg, Kansas, drove back and forth across state lines, but then, a family member contracted COVID-19.

"They had to go back in quarantine in Osage Beach, so Mom quarantined for 14 days and Dad quarantined for about 28 days," said Jerri Sargent, house manager. "Mom came back down with family in Pittsburg for a while and drove back and forth. We were able to help them the whole time with a comfort bag, gas cards, meal vouchers and restaurant gift certificates."

When it came time for Violetta to be discharged from the hospital, the doctor was concerned that the preemie wouldn't eat very well while her mother was away. Sargent said if she wasn't there for two straight weeks feeding every day, then the baby would need a gastrostomy tube.

"We partnered with local hotel, Homewood Suites, and they were willing to help us out for two weeks with lodging, and I also contacted Martin's Taxi because if Dad couldn't be here, she had no way to get to the hospital," said Sargent. "They were able to help us with travel to the hospital, as well. and the owner of Martin's Taxi was fluent in Spanish and helped with the language barrier. This was another great partnership."

Violetta ended up improving and the family only had to stay in a hotel for two days before returning home in March. She's now 11 pounds and recently turned 7 months old.

"We want to thank the Ronald McDonald House for all their support that they gave us, despite all the restrictions of COVID," Daniel Lopez said in a statement. "My wife and I are infinitely grateful, along with all the NICU nurses who always helped us get ahead in this."

Dr. Rahul Oberoi, a neonatologist at Freeman Hospital, said the past year has been quite a challenge, and the hospital tried to accommodate families from out of town when there were available rooms in the Mother/Baby unit. But the rooms were limited.

"We sometimes had one or two families that we could accommodate, sometimes more, but it's on a case-by-case basis," he said. "It's been a huge challenge. We've never had to do that before in the past because of what the Ronald McDonald House has been able to provide us."

Oberoi said the Ronald McDonald House conquered a language/cultural barrier with the family while also providing them with a social worker who coordinated their care. It also created new partnerships within the community that didn't exist before.

"Then, you coordinated lodging, transportation and food, so what else is there?" he said. "Now, mom and dad can just focus on their child. There's no other entity, at least one that I could think of, that would help coordinate all of those things in one go. A hospital can't do it. A social worker can't do it. But you have a team of volunteers and staff who are able to pull in every resource known that this family needed."