GRAND RAPIDS, Mich-- A new program was launched Tuesday at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.
It's called the Peter and Joan Secchia Care Partners Program and it's aimed to help families with medically complex kids.
FOX 17 spoke with a West Michigan family benefiting from this new program. They tell us they used to be at the hospital every single day for checkups and now they only have to come two days a week.
Nick and Jennifer Kamps' son, Quentin, has already undergone 10 surgeries at just 11 months old.
He's a micro preemie, born with an infection in his brain, who now suffers from neurotrauma.
"When we first got home from the hospital we would be on the phone with them (doctors) every day and one of them would want us up here every day," said Nick Kamps.
Kamps tells FOX 17 there are nine different specialist that want to see Quentin at least once a week.
His family says they never had time to take care of their son because they were always busy with appointments.
Now, thanks to this new Care Partners Program, their time is freed up.
We're told the Peter and Joan Secchia Care Partners Program will help patients and families navigate the health system all while coordinating multiple appointments per week.
Bill Bush, Pediatrician in Chief at Helen DeVos is excited about the opening.
"We’re able to take and coordinate those visits by not only scheduling with the specialist but at the end of the day putting together a summary and getting that back to their primary care physician and giving the family something that puts together all the complexity of those visits," Bush said.
Families like Quentin's are benefiting from the program on a daily basis.
"We're no longer on the phone everyday, all evening. His health has improved greatly."
Bush tells us there is no program like this in the nation that has space to allow families to eat and sleep in between visits. They're hoping this is a model for other hospitals across the state.
