PRINTER'S NO. 2631
No. 417 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY PISTELLA, DeWEESE, FRANKEL, BALDWIN, BENNINGHOFF, BOYD, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER, COHEN, CORRIGAN, CRAHALLA, CRUZ, DERMODY, ELLIS, FAIRCHILD, FLEAGLE, FORCIER, GEIST, GEORGE, GILLESPIE, GINGRICH, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HARHAI, HENNESSEY, HERMAN, HERSHEY, HESS, JAMES, KOTIK, LEDERER, MANN, McGILL, MUNDY, MUSTIO, O'NEILL, PALLONE, PAYNE, PETRONE, RAMALEY, READSHAW, ROSS, RUBLEY, SAINATO, SANTONI, SCHRODER, SIPTROTH, SHANER, STABACK, E. Z. TAYLOR, TIGUE, WALKO, WHEATLEY, WOJNAROSKI, YOUNGBLOOD, DIVEN AND FABRIZIO, AUGUST 24, 2005
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, AUGUST 24, 2005
A RESOLUTION 1 Extending congratulations to The Children's Home of Pittsburgh 2 on its over 100 years of service to the community and 3 recognizing the unique services it provides to enhance the 4 health and well-being of infants and children throughout 5 southwestern Pennsylvania. 6 WHEREAS, The Children's Home of Pittsburgh, established in 7 1893, is an independent, nonprofit licensed organization whose 8 purpose is to promote the health and well-being of infants and 9 children through services which establish and strengthen the 10 family; and 11 WHEREAS, The health and welfare of all our children is a 12 prime concern; and 13 WHEREAS, The Children's Home of Pittsburgh fulfills a gap in 14 pediatric services in the community by providing cost-effective 15 and high quality subacute pediatric services; and
1 WHEREAS, The Children's Home of Pittsburgh has provided 2 unique and valuable services to infants and children through an 3 adoption program, the Transitional Infant Care Hospital and 4 Child's Way; and 5 WHEREAS, The adoption program provides the most comprehensive 6 professional counseling services of any private agency in 7 southwestern Pennsylvania, placing more than 10,000 infants and 8 children in loving homes; and 9 WHEREAS, The adoption program has three licenses from the 10 Department of Public Welfare to provide birth parent counseling, 11 adoptive parent support and placement of infants with loving 12 families; and 13 WHEREAS, The adoption program is expanding to provide 14 additional counseling services to adopted teenagers, infertility 15 counseling and other support groups; and 16 WHEREAS, The Transitional Infant Care Hospital, the only 17 freestanding hospital of its kind in the United States, is an 18 11-bed licensed pediatric hospital providing services to 19 premature and high-risk infants and families who have been 20 referred from area hospitals and providing health care services 21 in a homelike environment with living facilities for families, 22 including the second Austin Lemieux sibling playroom; and 23 WHEREAS, The Transitional Infant Care Hospital, which was 24 established in 1984, has served more than 2,500 families; and 25 WHEREAS, Child's Way, the first pediatric extended care 26 center in this Commonwealth, offers daytime services for 27 medically fragile children and respite for their parents, 28 providing the only alternative to home health care; and 29 WHEREAS, Child's Way is recognized for helping to alleviate 30 the demand for specialized pediatric home care nurses; and 20050H0417R2631 - 2 -
1 WHEREAS, At Child's Way, children receive therapies, nursing 2 services, nutritional therapy and other medical procedures while 3 their parents may return to work or school; and 4 WHEREAS, Child's Way, since opening in 1998, has served more 5 than 150 families, and 40% of the children have been 6 mainstreamed to other programs; and 7 WHEREAS, The Children's Home of Pittsburgh, in order to have 8 sufficient space to meet the increasing demand for its unique 9 services, has embarked upon a $20 million building project, to 10 be located at 5324 Penn Avenue in the blighted area of Garfield, 11 Pennsylvania, spurring economic growth in an otherwise depressed 12 area; and 13 WHEREAS, This project will create 50 additional jobs, result 14 in tax revenue for State and local governments, add two existing 15 properties to the tax rolls and save millions of dollars for the 16 Medicaid program through the delivery of subacute pediatric care 17 services; and 18 WHEREAS, The staff of The Children's Home of Pittsburgh is 19 compassionate and provides vital social welfare services and 20 subacute health care programs with a focus on including families 21 in all decisions which may affect their children, which programs 22 do not replicate any current services in southwestern 23 Pennsylvania and fulfill a unique niche in the continuum of 24 care; therefore be it 25 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives extend 26 congratulations to The Children's Home of Pittsburgh on its over 27 100 years of service to the community and recognize the unique 28 services it provides to enhance the health and well-being of 29 infants and children throughout southwestern Pennsylvania. G13L82BIL/20050H0417R2631 - 3 -