Children’s Volunteer Health Network is a network of healthcare professionals and community volunteers that can and does make a huge difference in the lives of children.

What happens when a child whose family has no insurance and no means to pay for healthcare get really sick? Currently, there are two choices: get well or go to the emergency room.

Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast, our local hospital, spends $1 – $1.5 million each month on uncompensated care.

But what about the cost to the child? Sick children miss school and fall behind, their grades drop, and low self esteem develops, which can lead to behavior problems. They often stay behind a grade, and a pattern of their lives develops that could be avoided if only they had been treated and kept on track when sick.

• How many children are uninsured in your school?
• How many days are lost for that sick child?
• How far behind does that child fall?
• How many other children get sick if that child stays in the classroom?
• How many of these children end up in the ER because the sore throat turned to Strep?

We know that CVHN has changed and saved lives through numerous operations, eyeglasses, tooth fillings and confidences shared. All because a community cared.