BY WVU MEDICINE
A gift from the Cline Family Foundation will provide highly specialized care and vital support for children facing serious health challenges at the new WVU Medicine Children’s hospital.
The Cline Family Foundation contribution supports the Pediatric and Cardiac Intensive Care Units (ICU), the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit and the Child Life Program at the new hospital, which is slated for completion in early 2022. The nine-story, 150-bed facility is under construction next to WVU Medicine’s J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown.
“We are incredibly grateful for the Cline family’s support of this transformative facility,” Amy L. Bush, registered nurse and WVU Medicine Children’s chief operating officer, said. “Our team provides the greatest range of pediatric specialty and high-risk maternal care in West Virginia. The Cline Family Foundation’s efforts to help children and young adults achieve their full potential will be well-served by working together to build healthier futures for our children.”
Late energy industry entrepreneur and southern West Virginia native Chris Cline founded the Cline Family Foundation, which is now led by his daughter, Candice Cline Kenan. She hopes the family’s gift aids future generations of Mountain State children.
“This is a very special gift with a purpose that I know my dad and sister would be proud of,” Candice Cline Kenan, said.
Chris Cline and daughter Kameron were among seven people who died July 4, 2019, in a helicopter crash in the Bahamas.
With top-ranking Level 1 status from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Pediatric and Cardiac ICU provides the most advanced care available for critically ill infants and children in West Virginia and surrounding states. WVU Medicine Children’s is home to the state’s largest pediatric ICU and its only pediatric cardiac surgical and intensive care service.
The Epilepsy Monitoring Unit is likewise the only facility of its kind in the state, offering continuous monitoring of each child’s brain activity. Its Level 4 status from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers recognizes that WVU Medicine Children’s provides the most innovative treatment options available for epilepsy in children.
Both facilities will be housed on the sixth floor of the new hospital and named in recognition of the Cline family’s generosity.
The Cline Family Foundation gift also creates an endowment to support the Child Life Program, which helps children cope with the stress and uncertainty of illness, injury, disability and hospitalization through play, education, engaging activities and more.
The Cline Family Foundation’s latest gift was made through the WVU Foundation.
