Oct 25, 2019$5 million gift allows Children’s National Hospital to open sports medicine center
Children’s National Hospital today announced a $5 million gift from Fight For Children to establish a new sports medicine center for children and adolescents. The Fight For Children Sports Medicine Center will fulfill a need in the Washington, D.C. region, by providing comprehensive services and community outreach to help student-athletes play, grow and excel.
“We are grateful for Fight For Children’s leadership in helping Children’s National establish this new center,” said Dr. Kurt Newman, president and CEO of Children’s National. “Thanks to their generosity, student-athletes of all ages will be able to benefit from care designed specifically for them and achieve new heights.”
This new center will be a state-of-the art facility that helps student-athletes, families and coaches understand how to stay active and injury-free. It will help them prevent and recover from injuries and allow them to reach their athletic peak. The center’s four pillars — pediatric and adolescent specific rehabilitation, performance enhancement and injury prevention, community outreach and education, and research — will help Children’s National experts better understand how to safely keep student-athletes in the game.
By leveraging Children’s National’s regional outpatient clinics and community health centers, its relationship with D.C. schools and other key partnerships, the center will be able to provide consultations and treatment where the region’s young athletes live, learn and play.
“When kids are healthy and able to participate in sports, the benefits they derive transcend age, race, gender, income, and class,” said Keith Gordon, president and CEO of Fight For Children. “We’re proud to join Children’s National in establishing this center as the premier facility to keep all children moving on the field, in the classroom, and into the future. This project embodies our mission and the legacy of our late founder, Joe Robert, Jr., whose life passion was helping children.”
Joseph E. “Joe” Robert Jr., was a stalwart advocate for children and a long-time supporter of Children’s National. The Joseph E. Robert, Jr. Prize in Philanthropy was established at Children’s National in 2013 to commemorate Joe’s impact on the community and honor those continuing his inspirational legacy.
The Fight For Children Sports Medicine Center will be located at the site of the former Discovery Communications headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.
