CLEVELAND, Ohio — MetroHealth Medical Center is close to opening a Ronald McDonald Family Room — a feat of fund-raising success at a time when raising money is as tough as the economy.
A vision of  Dr. Robert Cohn, chairman of pediatrics at MetroHealth’s Children’s Hospital, the family room and its comfortable chairs, computers and snacks is designed to provide a respite for families of sick children who are visiting the hospital.
“Dr. Cohn really got it started,” said Dave Jacobs, a vice chairman of the MetroHealth Foundation, which raised $128,500 to build the family room. “They’ve been working at it for a couple of years now and were waiting for the funding.”
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Jacobs, who also is chief operating officer for Oswald Companies, the Cleveland risk-management firm that specializes in employee health insurance plans, said reaching a fund-raising goal is gratifying — especially during a recession.
“It’s very difficult in this environment to raise money,” he said. “So the fact that we were able to accomplish this particular vision for Dr. Cohn was really exciting for us.”
Money to build the family room on the fourth floor of the hospital’s tower building came from foundations, corporations and individuals, Jacobs said. Life’s A Snap Foundation, headed by Kevin and Kristen Houser, led the giving, he said. Kevin Houser has played in the National Football League since 2001 and he and his wife, Kristen Houser, grew up and were high school sweethearts in Westlake, Ohio, she said.
The Housers also helped raise money for MetroHealth’s pediatric comprehensive health program.
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“While it’s important for the children who are affected by these various illnesses to have strength and support from their families, we believe that it’s equally important that families who are at the hospital every day … feel supported … and have a place to go in tough times to spend time together,” Kristen Houser said.
The Ronald McDonald Family Room at MetroHealth will be the fourth among Greater Cleveland hospitals, said Diane Weiner, family room coordinator for Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland. The other three are at University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic and the Clinic’s Fairview Hospital, Weiner said.
