"Because we have young kids, Packard Hospital is not just a charity―it’s part of our lives. You want a place that you can trust when your kids need it.”
- Steve Dostart
"Packard embraces the whole community and provides the same level of extraordinary care to everyone. We support the Children’s Fund because the leadership of this hospital has shown again and again that they will put the funds to the best use.”
- Sharon Meers
Sharon Meers and Steve Dostart were immediately drawn to Packard Children’s when they attended a Hospital event. “I was completely amazed,” Sharon recalls.
One of the first things that impressed them was the Hospital’s remarkable personal touch. Harvey Cohen, MD, PhD, the former chief of staff, shared stories of patients whose lives were changed by Packard physicians and staff, as well as news about research advances at the cutting edge of pediatric medicine.
Greatly inspired, the couple decided to become annual donors to the Hospital. They designated their contributions to the Children’s Fund, citing confidence in Packard leadership as a large factor in their unrestricted support.
Upon the arrival of their son, now 8, and daughter, now 5, Sharon and Steve became even more intimately involved with Packard. Both children were delivered there, and Craig Albanese, MD, chief of pediatric general surgery, performed laparoscopic surgery to fix their son’s hernia at age 3.
Remembering their son’s operation, Sharon and Steve recount how their initial terror was assuaged immediately by the compassion of Albanese and the nursing staff. After the surgery, when their son, apparently impervious to morphine, complained of pain, a nurse brought him a purple Popsicle. “He immediately said, ‘Oh, I feel better now!’” Steve laughs. “It was exactly the right touch. As parents, it was the most humane, beautiful process we could have imagined.”
In addition to feeling grateful for having a world-class hospital in their backyard, Sharon and Steve are both moved by the Hospital’s practice of treating any child in need. Sharon says, “It’s great knowing that Packard is a hospital with a mission: to embrace the entire community and provide the same level of extraordinary care to anyone who walks through their door.”