ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Some families in Tampa Bay are going through this pandemic while their child is in the hospital. This week, the staff at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg found another way to care for those families -- giving away groceries.
"That's what we're about as a hospital," says hospital president Tom Kmetz.
"We're here to care for these families. We care for them day in and day out. Many of these kids are chronically ill and we became family to them and they become family to us. So this is just a great opportunity to serve," Kmetz said.
More than 100 patients and their families received bags of essential groceries. Hospital staff said it's especially hard for these families to keep up with normal living expenses while also paying for long-term medical care.
Executive Vice President of the Johns Hopkins All Children's Foundation Jenine Rabin was on hand to help pass out groceries.
"We really just wanted to make an effort to reach out to the people who we serve and to thank them for being our patients, believing in us [and] letting us take care of them," Rabin said.
Employees are also making sure their fellow front line workers are taken care of during the pandemic. The hospital tweeted a video of employees performing an original song called "Thank You" for Health Care Week.
Johns Hopkins, All Children's Hospital provides care across more than 50 specialties for infants, children and teenagers who face complex medical challenges.
The All Children's Foundation supports that work as well as furthering medical research with donations.
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