Ronald McDonald House of Dallas’s Family Room at Scottish Rite in Frisco Turns Five
Ronald McDonald House of Dallas (RMHD) and Scottish Rite for Children Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center in Frisco recently celebrated the fifth birthday of the opening of their Family Room. Opened in 2018, the RMHD Family Room provides the families of patients a quiet, comfortable, living-room-style space to wait for their child during procedures and I.V. infusions for orthopedic care at Scottish Rite. In these five years, Scottish Rite Frisco has performed more than 4,700 surgeries treating patients’ growing muscles, joints and bones. This Family Room was the first of its kind in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
The Family Room allows RMHD to extend the supportive, warm environment it is well known for within the walls of health care institutions. Equipped with comforting amenities, including a kitchenette, free snacks and beverages, work and play areas, the Family Room is located on the 4th floor of the Scottish Rite Frisco campus. This convenient location allows parents to be just steps away from their child’s bedside and nearby for clinical updates. The Family Room is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is run by one part-time staff and several volunteers.
“The Ronald McDonald House Family Room was a relaxing and welcoming space for us to wait while our daughter was in surgery,” the mother of a 14-year-old girl having ankle surgery says. “It was comforting to be in close proximity to where she was, and you can tell the volunteers genuinely care about creating a homelike environment for families.”
Ronald McDonald Houses are widely known for providing a free “home away from home” to families around the world while they seek critical medical care for their children. RMHD, founded in 1981, has blossomed into the 8th largest of 383 Houses globally. This branch serves more than 1,400 families annually, 45% of whom have experienced the essence of “the House that love built in Dallas” through the Family Room at Scottish Rite Frisco. Scottish Rite for Children and RMHD share a more than 30-year history of collaborating to improve the hospital experiences and clinical outcomes of patients and their families from near and far. Often, families with patients seeking care at Scottish Rite that are far from their homes will stay long-term at RMHD, where they receive the daily support and resources that they need to focus on their child’s care.
“The Ronald McDonald House of Dallas Family Room at our Frisco campus has provided our patient families with a special place to call home while they are seeking our services,” says Robert L. Walker, President/CEO of Scottish Rite for Children. “While our families wait for their child’s surgery to be completed, the Family Room serves as a space to rest and recharge. We’re grateful for the support that Ronald McDonald House of Dallas has given our patients and families throughout the years and look forward to many more.”
“RMHD could not have picked a better partner than Scottish Rite for its first Family Room in Dallas-Fort Worth,” says Jill Cumnock, CEO of Ronald McDonald House of Dallas. “We are thrilled by our shared impact thus far and look forward to growing this model.”
About Scottish Rite for Children
Scottish Rite for Children is a world-renowned leader in the treatment of orthopedic conditions, such as scoliosis, clubfoot, hand differences, hip disorders, limb lengthening and reconstruction, sports injuries and fractures, as well as certain related arthritic and neurological disorders and learning disorders, such as dyslexia. Patients receive treatment regardless of the family’s ability to pay. For more information about services available at the Dallas or Frisco campuses, volunteering or donating, visit scottishriteforchildren.org.