Caitlin Stella
Pediatric Healthcare
At Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, not all team members wear a white coat or scrubs. Some have fur or a spongy red nose! It has a therapy dog named Freedom who comforts patients and a resident clown who lightens the mood. “The hospital’s theme is ‘The Healing Power of Play,’” explains CEO Caitlin Stella.
As the second in a family of seven children, Stella knew from an early age she wanted to “make the world a better place for children.” She says the hospital’s child life program, which includes music, art, yoga, dance, gaming and technology therapies, is essential. This philosophy of fun led to the creation of the Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Child Life Zone, thanks to the generosity of the Finker-Frenkel Family Foundation who donated the space.
The zone looks like a children’s museum and has daily enriching activities like what you’d find on a cruise ship. There are puppet shows and other theatrical performances, celebrity appearances and science lessons taught by the hospital’s full-time schoolteacher when the Museum of Discovery and Science’s STEMobile rolls in. Patients who are unable to leave their rooms can tune in to the entertainment via Joe D TV.
A children’s hospital is never a place you want to check into, but Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital has found that patients are sad when it’s time to go home. “We’re setting the tone for children’s experiences with healthcare for their entire lives. They’re going to remember the first time they had surgery or treatment,” she says. “Either it’s going to be traumatic and they’re going to be afraid their whole lives or it’s going to be something positive, and they won’t be afraid.”
Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital will celebrate its milestone 30th anniversary next year. It began as a unit inside Memorial Regional Hospital and in 2011, a stand-alone four-story building was constructed to facilitate the influx of pediatric patients in a growing community. To meet the continuous demand for specialized pediatric services with new surgical capabilities, treatments and patient/family programs, the hospital doubled its size and opened an additional four floors in October 2022. With the expansion came upgrades to the intensive care units, the installation of an interoperative MRI suite, as well as the creation of new state-of-the-art cardiac procedure rooms and an interventional radiology room just for children.
The ongoing Catch the Love Capital Campaign has raised about $70 million towards the $166 million project so far. People interested in contributing are encouraged to do so at jdch.com/give.
A Few More Facts
US News & World Report named Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital the best children’s hospital for orthopedics and cardiology and heart surgery. The Memorial Transplant Institute is the only pediatric and adult provider for both heart and kidney transplants in the Broward County area.
The hospital’s spinal and orthopedic programs are nationally ranked, oncology and neurosurgery programs are top-notch and the NICU can accommodate the highest risk newborns, often transported by air and ground transport from other area hospitals.
With degrees in child development and public health and a background working at UCLA’s autism center, it was under Stella’s leadership that Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital became the first autism-certified emergency department in Florida. A child life specialist and the sibling of a patient with autism designed a mobile sensory cart that provides staff with distraction technology, tools and techniques to reduce sensory issues. Low stimulation and quiet environments are available throughout the hospital.
The hospital relies on area pediatricians and birth rates to keep them informed of the community’s continued rising need for pediatric specialized healthcare. To minimize disruption in school, sports, and families, Stella wants care to be available “close to home.”
Five years ago, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital created a permanent presence in Wellington to cater to families in Palm Beach County and north. In phase one, the facility offered common specialties such as neurology, endocrinology,
ENT, pulmonology and orthopedics, but Stella soon learned there was “a desert of true pediatric specialists in that community,” so it added neurosurgery, genetics and cardiology among other specialty services. Developmental and orthopedic rehabilitation and imaging are available and other pediatric diagnostics will be added soon. There are also specialized offices in Boca Raton, Coral Springs, Weston and Miramar.
When the hospital was building a relationship with Yankee great Joe DiMaggio, he required “that we care for all children regardless of their ability to pay” and that remains true today. Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundation can help families with the cost of gas, transportation, mortgage, utility bills, car payments, etc. when they are in need. To receive the high-quality care, some families come from far and wide including all over the state, country and even South and Central America and the Caribbean. An on-campus hotel called the Conine Clubhouse is fully funded by World Series champion Jeff Conine and his wife Cindy to provide housing for families who need a place to stay.
“We provide children with the level of care that any of us would expect for our own families,” Stella says. “Families trust us with their children, and I find that to be the greatest honor and privilege.”
Over the years, Stella has connected with so many families. She sits on the board of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and one of the hospital’s longtime patients asked Stella to join her on her trip to Disney. Instead, they had a pizza party after the trip so the now healthy five-year-old who is in remission could tell her about her special day as a princess. Stella cherishes her collection of necklaces and charm bracelets and other mementos gifted to her to remember each child and family. “They each have a special place in my heart.”
Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, 1005 Joe DiMaggio Drive, Hollywood, 954-265-5324, jdch.com
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