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Celebrating 10 Years of the Children's Health Center


For ten years children of all ages have crossed through the doors of the McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center into a world where fear turns to hope and the darkest days become brilliant miracles.

The McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center or CHC, as it has become known, serves as the virtual front door for Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center. Since the doors opened in 2000, the beautiful feather mobile and giant fish tank in the lobby have provided a welcoming atmosphere for countless patients, families, and visitors.

Funding to build the $32 million facility came almost exclusively through philanthropy. The group of generous individuals, corporations and foundations that contributed to the building campaign laid the foundation for a transformation at Duke Children's. We are deeply grateful to each of these donors.

The CHC has undergone marked change and renovation during recent years to meet steadily increasing inpatient and outpatient volumes, including the addition of a dedicated 13-bed pediatric cardiac intensive care unit and a new pediatric echocardiography laboratory among many others. It has been a momentous ten years!

As we mark this anniversary, we reflect on the tremendous hope that families bring into the building, and the miracles they have found within. We invite you to celebrate with us by sharing your Duke Children's memories--we'll post as many as we can to this wall.

We also invite you to post your photos and comments about your experiences at the McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center to our Facebook wall.

Opened in 2000, the five-story McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center brings more than 28 pediatric sub-specialties together in one family- and child-friendly setting. Contained within the CHC are state-of-the-art outpatient clinics, a pediatric perioperative suite and the Jim Valvano Day Hospital for children receiving chemotherapy treatments.

The McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center is named for Dr. John P. McGovern, a distinguished American physician, philanthropist, humanitarian, and scholar and Dr. Wilburt Cornell Davison, his mentor and long-time friend. Dr. Davison was the first Department of Pediatrics Chairman and the first Dean of Duke's School of Medicine.

Shared Memories of Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center

Duke Children's Health Center is AMAZING! We came to Duke four years ago, and it has been our second home. My daughter, Haley, receives infusions on the 4th floor (VDH) once a week, the entire day, for Pompe Disease. We also have numerous other appointments in the Children's Health Center. Everything about the Health Center, from the atmosphere to the entire staff, is wonderful. We live out of state and don't mind the drive each week (sometimes twice a week) because we know Haley is getting the BEST care at Duke! Haley will be coming to Duke indefinitely, but I am happy to know that she has such a wonderful place to come to with wonderful doctors and nurses. We love you DUKE Children's Health Center!

--Krystal


WE brought my grandson to Duke in June of 2009. He had Acute Lympoblastic Leukemia. WE were made to feel like we were part of a family while we were at Duke. The nurses in the clinic were always friendly and always smiled. Shawn thought of Duke as home. We spent almost six months at Duke before going back home. Sadly, our continuing relationship was cut short by Shawn's relapse and passing. WE love the people at Duke during a time when we had NO HOPE--they gave us hope and 13 months with my grandson that we would not otherwise have had. YOU ALL ARE AWESOME AND WE LOVE YOU.

--Anita


Our daughter, Hope, was born April 16, 1999 at 23 weeks gestation. She stayed in the NICU at Duke until September 1999 and was readmitted for another 30 days only three days after discharge. Hope has had numerous hospitalizations and numerous surgeries. She is now 11 years old and doing remarkably well. She is a social butterfly and has a remarkable vocabulary for someone who can't read or write. I credit this first of all to God and then to the skills and wisdom and compassion of the doctors, nurses and other staff at Duke. The Children’s Health Center has been a part of Hope’s life since it’s beginning. We were quite excited to see it come to fruition when Hope was about a year or so old. Hope loves the doctors and nurses and the rest of the staff at the CHC just as we do. As a parent of a special needs child, the CHC remains an integral part of our lives. It made life simpler for us, having all of her specialists in one building for easy access, and it is so child friendly. Thanks CHC from Hope and from us. We love you guys!!

--Angela


My daughter has been going to doctors since she was a year old, but it wasn't until we came to Duke a  few years ago that we started to find answers. She is 15 now, and although her health has not improved dramatically (we're still waiting on science and research breakthroughs), her lifestyle is managable. Thank you, Duke doctors, for giving us hope and a few answers as we await the many.

--Suzanne

 

My daughter Janelle attended Duke long before the new hospital was built. I remember her going to the old clinic. Janelle was born with an undiagnosed neuromuscular disorder. She attended several clinics there. Janelle passed away Nov. 5, 2005. Special thanks to Genetics, Pulmonary, Cardiology, Neurology, and especially to Dr. Worley at Lenox Baker Hospital. Janelle is smiling at you all! She loved bright lights and colors, and she always looked up, especially when she came to the McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center, at the different colored mobiles hanging high in the ceiling, and she'd watch the fish in the aquarium. She was always greeted with a friendly smile in the lobby.

--Mesheila


Ten years ago I was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma. After having one operation to try to remove the tumor, I was sent to Duke Children's. There, they welcomed my family and I with open arms, and I have been cancer free for ten years. When all of this occurred, I was just four years old; sometimes it seems like I grew up at Duke Children's because I was so young. Duke saved my life, and I am so grateful to everyone there.

--Melissa