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The Foundation of Community Hospice & Palliative Care is preparing to open the Dorion Family Pediatric Center. This facility will be the first of its kind in Florida and was designed to support children and families living with serious and complex illnesses.

Pediatric hospice and palliative care are about helping children live life to the fullest and surrounding families with compassionate support throughout their journey.

The Dorion Family Pediatric Center is one of only a few dedicated pediatric hospice and palliative care centers in the United States. Its goal is to expand access to care and deepen support for these children and the families who care for them.

The new center will provide a dedicated, pediatric-friendly environment that will offer therapeutic recreation and activities that support normalization and community integration.

Caring for children with a serious illness can be extremely taxing on the caregiver. With that in mind the center will also provide caregiver support programs, psychosocial care and spiritual care tailored to families.

Having a community to lean on during difficult times is also very important. The center will be a place for children and families who are facing similar challenges to connect.

Traveling to and from doctors’ appointments creates a lot of different challenges for a family. The center will provide a centralized location that allows care teams to spend more time delivering direct support and less time traveling.

The Dorion Family Pediatric Center was named in honor of Dottie Dorion and the Dorion family and stands as a lasting tribute to their legacy of compassion and dedication to pediatric care.