POMEROY–The Shrine Club is once again holding its Annual Drive for Shriners Hospitals for Children®-Spokane, here on November 7 and 8. At this time of year, members of the Pomeroy Shrine Club accept donations from individuals and businesses of Pomeroy and Garfield County to help support the care provided to children by Shriners Hospitals for Children-Spokane.

The Pomeroy Shrine Club is small, but last year the drive raised $6,500 for the nearby Spokane Shrine Hospital and Patient Transportation Fund with an additional $1,500 in private donations sent directly to the hospital. The local group has been proud to sponsor many children from Garfield County to receive care at Shriners Hospitals.

The community is invited to join the Pomeroy Shriners to help change the lives of children, said Bob Cox, secretary of the local organization. "Your support for our kids and the Shrine Hospital will be directed to the costs to help a child walk, stand or run," Cox said.

"We are very lucky to have the Spokane hospital nearby," he said. "Our hospitals are supported primarily by donations, wills, estates and trusts, but our local Shriners work hard to support the hospital as well." The Pomeroy Shrine Club generates money from its Annual Drive and local donations to help our kids.

The medical treatment is top quality and provided without regard to a patient families' ability to pay, Cox says. The 22 locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico provide advanced care for children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate.

The annual budget for the Spokane Shrine Hospital, which serves four states and two Canadian provinces, is about $20.4 million. In 2018, over 4,298 referrals for new patients were received. The medical experts at the Shriners Hospital recognize the family plays a vital role in a child's ability to overcome an illness or injury and they involve the family in all aspects of the child's recovery and care.

This local hospital treats children aged up to 18 years old with bone and joint conditions. Shriners' pediatric orthopedic physicians in Spokane performed nearly 995 surgeries last year and saw more than 13,470 kids in the outpatient clinic. Clubfoot, sports injury, fractures, cerebral palsy, scoliosis, spina bifida, brittle bone disease and many other conditions are treated by the specially trained experts in pediatric orthopedics.

In 2013, the Shriner's Hospital opened the Fracture Clinic. Since the number of patients seen has increased. In 2018 alone, 1785 patients were treated. The Clinic is open Monday through Friday from 7:30-9 a.m. with no appointments necessary. Patients must see their provider or an urgent care/ER for a referral prior to coming to the Fracture Clinic. Patients receive total fracture care that could include (as needed): reduction/re-alignment, surgery, casting, post-fracture follow-up and rehabilitation.

With the changing landscape of health care, Shriners Hospitals for Children has implemented, for the first time in its history, the billing of third-party insurers to help cover a portion of its expenses. Shriners Hospitals, however, still rely on the generosity of donors to help fulfill its mission of caring for children.

Under this new model, any child who qualifies for care will still receive it and for those families that have coverage, we will let the insurance company help with a portion of the expenses. For those who are not insured, or do not have coverage for the cost of care, the Shrine mission remains the same: we will still provide treatment and care regardless of a patient's ability to pay. "We expect that this will supplement our generous donations to ensure we can continue to take care of children of this region far into the future," Cox said.

The Shriners Hospital is visible from the freeway upon entering Spokane, across the street from Deaconess Hospital, Cox said.

Spokane's Shrine Center, El Katif, generates money from many different projects such as the Shrine Duck Race, the Shrine WSU Football Game, the Shrine Circus and a silent auction in the Spokane Valley, just to name a few.

Donations may send a check to Pomeroy Shrine Club, c/o Secretary Bob Cox, PO Box 545, Pomeroy, WA 99347. Make checks payable to the Pomeroy Shrine Club.