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A personal visit or phone call from a member of our Foundation team for you or your family during your hospital stay
The Skip Cline Society is a dynamic group of local professionals who share a common interest in advancing pediatric health care. Members provide an active voice and energetic support for the not-for-profit hospitals of Morton Plant Mease and the current health-related issues affecting our pediatric community. Organized by friends of Harry Sykes “Skip” Cline Jr., 18 years after his untimely death, these emerging leaders are investing in the future of the hospitals of Morton Plant Mease with fellow philanthropically inclined leaders.
To them, Skip embodied the ideals of a young leader – charisma, enthusiasm and energy. He was raised in the shadows of Morton Plant Hospital, in a family long devoted to charitable ideals, contributing time, treasure and talent to our community and hospital. The founding members of Skip Cline Society recognized a desire among younger adults in the community to become better, more involved with their hospitals. They concluded that by naming the Society after Skip, the group could build on his family’s tradition of community involvement and philanthropy. Skip’s grandfather, J. Tweed McMullen, was the hospital’s legal counsel for more than 40 years and served many of the hospital’s other significant benefactors, including Donald Roebling. He and his wife, Millie, chaired the 1975 Charity Ball and have generously contributed to the hospital for decades. Skip’s parents, Harry and Janie Cline, Cornerstone of Philanthropy members, chaired the 2004 Charity Ball, which raised more than $225,000. In this tradition, the Society will provide ongoing support for the Foundation through its endeavors.
Skip Cline Society’s fund-raising focus has always been to support the hospitals’ pediatric programs and services. In fact, over the past decade, members have collectively granted the hospitals $560,000.
Members may join Skip Cline Society with an annual gift that is 100% tax-deductible and will help to support the pediatric programs at the hospitals of Morton Plant Mease.
If you are interested in making your membership contribution in monthly or quarterly installments, please contact Lindsey Daniel, Director of Annual Philanthropy, at (727) 461-8636 or Lindsey.Daniel@BayCare.org.
Mease Countryside Hospital continues to see increased growth treating pediatric patients – treating over 1,000 kids a month. One of the most common injuries the pediatric Emergency Department at Mease Countryside Hospital treats is extremity fractures. This mini C-Arm will provide real-time dynamic imaging at the Emergency Department bedside, enabling clinicians to better align fractures under direct visualization. The immediate feedback improves alignment accuracy, supporting better healing and enhancing the patient experience. Its “C” shape allows for multiple imaging angles without moving the child, crucial for managing painful injuries.
$40,000
The physiologic monitors in Mease Countryside Hospital’s Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) provide essential information to the care team on the status of our infants receiving critical care. Using this information, the clinical staff can better evaluate a patient’s condition and make appropriate treatment decisions.
These new monitors and system are also quieter and feature improved alarm management. This system includes a central station monitor that receives and displays information and a set of monitors that are at the bedside to provide physiologic data from each patient.
Our child life specialists aim to decrease stress and anxiety for our pediatric patients by providing atraumatic experiences with developmentally appropriate interventions. Our pediatric population can perceive CT scans as threatening and scary due to the lack of cognitive maturity to understand that it’s not a threat.
Research has shown that short and long-term psychological effects can result from stressful or invasive medical procedures performed on children in the Radiology department. We know that enhancing the environment in our ER CT room will be effective in minimizing children’s fears and increase their cooperation, providing a positive medical experience. The projector’s images can be changed to best meet each patient’s specific needs.
Thanks to the support from the Skip Cline Society, CuddleCots will help provide the “gift of time” for grieving families of stillborn babies to properly bond with their baby through a cooling pad placed in crib, basket or bed. The cooling device preserves the baby’s body in a bassinet or crib so that he or she can remain up to five days in a hospital room, extending the time families have to bond with infant.
This grant provided funding to support children in Mease Countryside Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) with a mobile sensory cart and helped replace the ceiling tiles in the pediatric area so they are more suitable for pediatric patients with sensory issues.
These items go a long way towards better serving patients with sensory issues, developmental delays, and those with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
In 2017, Skip Cline Society supported the remodeling of a separate waiting area for pediatric patients in the emergency department at Mease Countryside Hospital, complete with bubble wall, iPads and a kid friendly environment.
Amount of 2017 Funding – $52,417
Every year, members of the Skip Cline Society donate toys to the annual Skip Cline Society Holiday Toy Drive. These toys make a lasting different to the babies, children and families spending time in the Emergency Departments and pediatric and neonatal units at the hospitals of Morton Plant Mease. The toys are specifically requested by nurses and child life specialists at the hospitals. Over the past 5 years, more than 2,500 toys have been donated by members of the Skip Cline Society and community members.
The HALO SleepSack is a wearable blanket which is intended to eliminate the likelihood that a baby can get entangled with clothing and loose bedding during sleep.
The SleepSack wearable blanket is sleeveless and is worn over pajamas to take the place of loose blankets. Our funding provides a sleep sack for every newborn to take home for safer sleep.
Amount of 2016 Funding – $46,000
This amazing device shows the location of a patient’s veins and helps nurses easily choose a suitable vein to minimize unnecessary sticks.
Amount of 2015 Funding – $9,812
The multi-sensory rover offers a broad range of sensory experience designed to offer Mease Countryside Hospital’s pediatric patients the opportunity to exercise choice. The mobile cart contains a complete sensory environment that can be used for distraction or relaxation.
Amount of 2014 Funding – $21,400
iPads provide direct engagement for children — helping to not only distract the patient, but offer educational games and videos to help children and their parents understand what’s happening while they’re in the hospital.
2013 Funding – $6,800
The Giraffe OmniBed for Mease Countryside Hospital is an all‐in‐one neonatal care station providing a developmentally supportive, critical care environment for our high acuity newborns.
Broselow Color Coded Carts facilitate the care of our pediatric patients with the needed medication and equipment in an emergency situation.
Amount of 2012 Funding – $62,901
In 2010 and 2011, Skip Cline Society provided funding for another baby simulator for physician and nurse training and crossed numerous smaller items off the pediatric department wish list!
2010-2011 Funding – $65,122
The BabySim is an interactive baby simulator that helps our caregivers practice assessment and treatment of infant conditions in a realistic learning environment.
2009 Funding – $74,780
For more than 45 years, Morton Plant Mease Health Care Foundation has provided philanthropic support to the not-for-profit hospitals of Morton Plant Mease Health Care, including Morton Plant, Clearwater; Mease Dunedin; Mease Countryside, Safety Harbor and Morton Plant North Bay, New Port Richey. The close connection between the hospitals of Morton Plant Mease and their neighbors reveal a unique spirit of giving – a relationship characterized by people caring for the hospitals that care for them.
Donor information is kept strictly confidential. We will not share or sell a donor’s personal information with anyone else, nor send donor mailings on behalf of other organizations without written consent from the donor.
A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES ON THEIR WEBSITE (www.FloridaConsumerHelp.com) OR AT 1-800-435-7352. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. MORTON PLANT MEASE HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION, FLORIDA REGISTRATION #CH321 RECEIVES 100% OF ALL CONTRIBUTIONS AND DOES NOT USE PROFESSIONAL FUNDRAISING SOLICITORS. Please write, email or call us if you wish to have your name removed from the list to receive fund-raising requests supporting the hospitals of Morton Plant Mease Health Care and their affiliates.
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