SCRUBS Giving Society Inside & Out Campaign

Last year, SCRUBS Giving Society donors went the extra mile in support of pediatric mental health. They met and exceeded a $50,000 fundraising goal — raising more than $75,000 for the SCRUBS Inside & Out Campaign. We are grateful to the donors who gave so generously, and to SCRUBS Inside & Out Campaign Chair Mabell Paine for spearheading this fundraising initiative.

Funds helped us to provide specialized training for nurses in our pediatric and emergency departments, in order to address a serious mental health trend: Suicide rates have increased for young people across the country. In fact, suicide is now the second-leading cause of death among children ages 10 to 14.

Thanks to support from SCRUBS donors, nurses in our pediatric and emergency departments were taught best practices for identifying and helping children who are experiencing emotional health issues, including those who are at risk for suicide. These nursing team members also learned to use a toolkit developed by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), designed to effectivelyscreen youth and guide appropriate action.

We were one ofthe first hospitals in Southern California to implement this important training for pediatric staff, and nurses in

our pediatric department are already putting to good use what they have learned. Since March 2019, every patient between the ages of 10 and 17 in this department has been screened for suicide risk. Now that we have also completed training for nurses in our emergency department, patients in this age group are also being screened as they turn to us for care.

All pediatric and emergency department nurses — a total of more than 200 caregivers — have completed the new training. In addition, thanks to above-and-beyond support from our SCRUBS donors, we recently worked with a local school to provide suicide prevention education to more than 40 parents, students and community members. Moving forward, we will continue to strengthen our efforts, increasing the likelihood that troubled kids in our community will get the mental health support they need.

“By supporting this campaign,” Mabell says, “SCRUBS donors are helping our own families, friends, neighbors and fellow community members. They’re helping to save children’s lives, and we are grateful.”

For more information about how to join SCRUBS Giving Society, please contact Lindsay Koerner, manager of annual fund and donor groups, at (626) 397-3241.