Better Together

Caring for children when they are in the hospital or at a doctor’s appointment is only the beginning. Our mission is to improve every child’s health and well-being, which means caring for children where they are: in the community. Here are some steps we’re taking to meet that goal. Get Started

 
Mother and son laughing
 
A father and daughter looking out a window
Two young sisters smiling
A mother holding her smiling daughter
 
A father holding and looking at his child
 

Promoting Wellness Equity to Help Kids BE-WEHL

Mental health is vital to overall well-being, and mind-body practices are effective tools for enhancing it. Recognizing this, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) launched the Integrative Health (IH) Program 10 years ago to incorporate wellness practices such as yoga, massage, aromatherapy and acupuncture into patient care.

Now, IH is bringing the benefits of these practices into the community through their Behavioral Health — Wellness Equity for a Healthy Life (BE-WEHL) program. Learn More

Schoolchildren practicing yoga in a school cafeteria

Launched in 2020

The BE-WEHL program offers a comprehensive seven-session curriculum designed to help children and families in under-resourced communities manage stress and cope with life's challenges. The curriculum covers mindfulness, nutrition, sleep, physical activity, yoga, self-massage, breathwork, nature and progressive muscle relaxation.

It was developed by experts from Integrative Health to address the unique needs of communities with higher levels of trauma and limited access to behavioral health professionals for children and adolescents.

Schoolchildren practicing yoga in a classroom

By the Numbers


• BE-WEHL has reached more than 2,000 individuals at more than 35 sites
throughout Camden, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties

• Among the site participants who completed our electronic survey:
   • 95% reported that BE-WEHL helped them and they want to participate again. 
   • 100% said they'd recommend the program to other groups.
BE-WEHL is unique in that we're not talking about a disease-specific thing. The focus is on stress, wellness and mindfulness. That allows us to be flexible and adapt the program, while always focusing on children.

Dejenaba N. Gordon, MPH, BE-WEHL Program Coordinator

Complementary therapies, like yoga, massage, aromatherapy and acupuncture, are traditionally accessed by affluent populations, so as a team we really wanted to find a way to systematically make these practices more available to populations living in underserved areas.

Robin Miccio, MS, LMT, CHOP Integrative Health Program Manager

Dejenaba N. Gordon, left, and Robin Miccio
Dejenaba N. Gordon, left, and Robin Miccio

Growth Since Launch

BE-WEHL has continuously evolved to maximize its impact and sustainability. Initially focused on offering one-on-one virtual classes for CHOP patients with behavioral health challenges and their families, the program expanded in 2022 with support from CHOP's Office of Community Impact. This funding enabled BE-WEHL to bring its curriculum into elementary schools, reaching children ages 5-14.

More recently, the program introduced professional training workshops empowering educators at early childhood centers to adopt wellness practices to manage their own stress and teach these strategies to children.

Watch this video to learn more about BE-WEHL

View Next Story
2025

Medicine and More: The Family Connects Program

Sometimes, a family visiting the Emergency Department at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has social needs that go beyond their child's immediate medical problem. Families may struggle to have enough food or a safe place to live. CHOP created Family Connects to provide community resources to meet those social needs. Learn More

Dr. VonHoltz standing outside CHOP emergency department

Families' Most-Requested Areas of Need

  • Housing
  • Food resources
  • Baby/child items
  • Utility needs
  • Community mental health resources
  • Child/daycare
  • Transportation
  • Financial assistance
  • Clothing
  • Education resources
  • Applying for social services
  • Employment
  • Health/dental insurance
  • Teen resources
  • Disease-specific information
  • Primary care resources
  • Case management

From its inception in the summer of 2020, Family Connects has:

Reached out to more than 20,500 Families
Distributed 1,300 Free gun locks
Provided resources and
emotional support to
6,000 Families
Seen participation
from more than
300 Student Volunteers
* As of March 2024
View Next Story
2024

Healthy Food, Healthy Childhood

When a family doesn't have the resources to put nutritious food on the table, providing a bag of groceries just answers an immediate problem. The Food as Medicine program takes a broader approach that includes nutrition education for families and activities for kids so they're learning about healthy food while having fun. And it happens right where the kids receive their healthcare: The Nicholas and Athena Karabots Primary Care Center, Norristown.

The program began when social worker Victoria Armstrong saw Norristown families facing food instability coming out of the pandemic. Learn More

If They Plant It, They Will Eat It

The Food as Medicine family sessions teach children about the full cycle of vegetables — from garden to kitchen to plate — and nutrition's role in healthy growth and development.

Food — and So Much More for Families

Families Enrolled in Food as Medicine receive:

  • Weekly delivery of fresh produce May through November, complete with info on what's in the box and recipes to try
  • Twice monthly delivery of nonperishable groceries
  • Monthly family sessions with exercise, story time, gardening, cooking demonstrations and dinner
  • Cooking equipment that includes cutting boards, knives, grater, pots, pans and more, plus a cookbook of family-friendly, healthy fare
  • Monthly children's book related to gardening or healthy eating
  • Yoga mat and water bottle for each child

It Takes a Village to Offer Family Nights

Community partners that support Food as Medicine:

  • Cutloose Cares and leaders Jordan and Emily Deane
  • Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, which provided the on-site garden, cooking demonstrations and weekly produce boxes
  • Martha's Choice Marketplace, a Catholic Social Services food pantry in Norristown
  • Norristown-area restaurants
  • Reach Out and Read and other CHOP volunteers

Photos of a Food as Medicine family night

View Next Story
2024

Working to Build a Future Workforce at CHOP

Part of CHOP's mission is to fill the registry of future healthcare workers with young people who reflect our diverse community and patient population. We have numerous programs that give youth from grade school through college opportunities to learn about the many roles across the institution — in patient care, administration, research and beyond.

Our robust internship programs, in particular, provide hands-on experience that can transform a student's career aspirations and prepare them for a job across the spectrum of healthcare. Learn More

Amyrah, Mai'Lynn, Ayden and Waheed show off their white coats after completing the CHOP Science Academy program.

Studying Safety and How to Keep Kids Safer

College students who land a spot in the Injury Science Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) 10-week summer research internship program are mentored by CHOP scientists and engineers from the Center for Injury Research and Prevention. This opportunity, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, is for students underrepresented in science and engineering. It provides a realistic experience of how research works and the impact research can have on improving children's lives.

Training at CHOP Is a Nationwide Draw

The nine REU interns for 2023 came from colleges that spanned the United States.

The nine REU interns for 2023 came from colleges that spanned the United States.

Safer Driving and Brain Injury Dominate Research Topics

Summer 2023 REU research topics included:

  • Biomechanical Responses during Pre-Crash Maneuvers and Autonomous Driving Scenarios
  • Understanding Eye-Glance Behaviors Among Young Drivers
  • Analysis of Pediatric Occupant Kinematics and Kinetics in Motor Vehicle Crashes
  • Social Equity and Spatial Effects on Safe Mobility
  • Developing 3D-Printed Anthropomorphic Models to Improve Clinical Training
  • Examining Learning to Drive, Risky Driving Behavior, and Crashes in Young Drivers
  • Human Subject Study with Parents and Teens to Study Effectiveness of Driver Safety App
  • Optimizing Concussion Care for Children and Adolescents
  • Cognitive and Circuit Impairments Induced by Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
View Next Story
2024

Our Financial Commitment

Our pledge to improve the health of children and the broader community takes on many forms: thousands of employee volunteer hours, free use of our facilities for community organizations, free health education and training for families and professionals, donated goods and services, and, of course, financial. Through all these efforts, in fiscal year 2023 (July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023), CHOP contributed more than $640 million to this effort.

All financial data is for fiscal year July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023. These reports include amounts expended by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s hospital facilities, as reported on Schedule H of the IRS Form 990, and our controlled affiliates, including our physician practice plans, which are not required to complete Schedule H. Accordingly, the values on this fact sheet are greater than the amounts reported in the CHOP Schedule H, which applies only to our hospital facilities. For more information, call CHOP’s Office of Community Impact at 267-426-5506.

Financial Assistance Policy Summary: The mission of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is to advance healthcare for children. To help children get the care that they need, CHOP provides financial assistance for medically necessary and emergency care to patients who meet the eligibility requirements. If CHOP determines that a patient is eligible, CHOP will waive 100% of the patient’s financial responsibility (after all applicable insurances and other government assistance). Learn more about our financial assistance policy. View previous Community Impact Reports.

Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Commitment

Category Total
Financial Assistance / Charity Care Cost of medical care services for families that qualify for CHOP’s financial assistance policy 2,651,982
Medicaid Programs Unreimbursed cost of Medicaid and other means-tested government health programs 357,116,120
Community Health Improvement Services Community-based clinical services, health education and support services focused on public health 19,734,721
Health Professions Education Net costs incurred by CHOP to train health professionals, including pediatricians 59,811,593
Subsidized Health Services Hospital-based clinical services provided at a financial loss to the organization 69,936,713
Research Cost of studies that identify new treatments and cures 126,105,183
Cash and In Kind Contributions Funds and goods provided to other organizations to provide community benefit 7,049,337
Total 642,405,650