Clinical Care Impact
You fuel best-in-class care and the potential of children in our community
Thank you for being a part of our community of champions who support the delivery of expert clinical care at Children’s Mercy - surrounding every child with highly-trained specialists, and bringing hope and healing to families when they need it most.
Families like Lanayah’s understand first-hand the importance of having access to comprehensive, world-class pediatric care close to home.
When 14-year-old Lanayah, a basketball player, began having trouble breathing she was originally diagnosed with pneumonia by her hometown doctor and sent home. When her symptoms persisted and became more serious, her doctors turned to Children’s Mercy. Concerned, the Children’s Mercy Critical Care Transport team flew her from Wichita to Kansas City.
Surrounded by specialists in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Lanayah’s family began to get answers. The heart team, under the leadership of Aliessa Barnes, MD, Co-Director, Ward Family Heart Center, diagnosed Lanayah with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that makes the heart beat really fast and causes limited life expectancy.
Lanayah’s condition continued to decline. In January 2020, Lanayah underwent a lifesaving heart transplant with the nationally-recognized surgical team in the Transplant Center. In March, the world entered a global pandemic.
Going from a healthy athlete to a heart transplant in less than two months turned Lanayah’s world upside down. On medications, including steroids, that caused uncomfortable side effects and separated from her former life, friends and family, the physical, emotional and psychological strain of her condition and the isolation of a global pandemic led to depression and anxiety.
Feeling my body fail was really scary. You’re always living in this state of worry and stress and unknown. You become aware of things most people aren’t - how short life is. It’s hard to cope with that.
Psychologist and Thrive program director, Jami Gross-Toalson, PhD stepped in to aid Lanayah and her family through the overwhelming emotions and complexities of coping with a heart condition. Having immediate access to mental health experts like those available through the nationally-recognized Division of Developmental and Behavioral Health at Children’s Mercy are critical to help patients with complex medical conditions like Lanayah thrive.
Because of you, Lanayah had access to the highest level of care to support her physical health and mental wellbeing in one place. With your help, children like Lanayah have the chance for more healthy days, more milestones achieved and more memories made with their families.
Your giving makes this and so much more possible
It is with help from passionate community champions, like you, we continue to ensure every child has access to the best care possible regardless of their family’s ability pay, while meeting the most pressing health needs of our community.
Pioneering care making headlines
- Performed Kansas City’s first dual pediatric heart and liver transplant.
- Launched Illuminate - a bold, five-year plan to address the devastating youth mental health crisis in our community.
- Opened region’s first Angelman Syndrome Clinic.
- Announced a new clinic dedicated to treating depression and anxiety in youth.
- Formed a joint venture with Camber Mental Health to build a mental wellness campus.
Children's Mercy serves:
1 in 3 area children, plus kids from 50 states and 16 countries.
Our staff completed:
*Statistics as of fiscal year 2022.