With news of a major gift for pediatric heart care and research from a trailblazer in the field, the public can now predict a common performance by companies. The expectation is that soon afterwards, attention will shift to gleaming stainless steel labs, huge wings of clinical facilities displaying company logos, and futuristic medical devices to help a hospital achieve better rankings in the world. This is a pattern of thinking that values tangible structures over the more intangible workings of hospitals.
However, genuine philanthropy for the medical industry turns this emphasis on its head by considering the unseen infrastructure of the survival of the family unit. In the event of a major medical emergency involving a child, the burden goes well beyond that posed by the sterile confines of an operating theatre; rather, it completely alters the lives of the child’s parents and siblings.
