Personal Injury Accidents and Shriners Hospital
Who are the Shriners and How Can They Help My Family After a Personal Injury Accident?
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Personal Injury Attorney. You likely recognize them by their red fez caps and the little cars they drive in local parades. They are the Shiners – members of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine for North America – and over 600,000 individuals in the United States and Canada belong to this international fraternity. But Shriners do more than drive funny-looking cars and wear peculiar garb: members of the Shrine are committed philanthropists who support specialized hospitals that provide free medical care to children.
WATCH: Youtube Video [Shiners Hospital For Children Commercial] below:
The Shriners Hospitals for Children
Since its inception, Shriners have supported various charitable causes. Early on, however, the Shriners voted to engage in its own philanthropic activity by providing free medical treatment to children in need. In 1922, the first Shriners Hospital opened in Louisiana. Today, Shriners Hospitals for Children is a network of 22 hospitals scattered across the nation, including 18 orthopedic hospitals, 3 hospitals specializing in the treatment of burns, and one center that provides specialized burn and spinal cord injury care. Treatment is available for children under the age of 18 years.
These hospitals are funded and supported solely through charitable donations: Shriners Hospitals never bill the child, the child’s parent, or any third party (like an insurance company) for the care provided to the child, and the Shriner’s Hospitals do not accept any grants or other funding from any local or state government or from the federal government. The Shriners Hospitals network operates a treatment center in Sacramento as well as in Los Angeles.
What Sort of Care is Available at the Shriner’s Hospitals?
Children who are younger than 18 years of age and who have a condition or injury that the Shriners Hospital network believes they can assist with can speak with their nearest Shriners Hospital about being admitted for care. Admissions decisions are made on the basis of the child’s medical need, the particular Shriners Hospital’s determination of whether it can provide the type of care the child needs, and whether seeking treatment at another hospital would place a financial burden on the child’s family. (Expedited admissions procedures are available where a child has suffered a burn injury and is in need of The Shriners Hospitals for Children has provided treatment for:
- Scoliosis;
- Brittle bone disease (osteogensis imperfecta);
- Hand and back injuries and disorders;
- Cleft lip and cleft palate;
- Burn injuries and reconstructive surgeries following burn injuries;
- Other orthopedic injuries, spinal cord injuries, and/or burn injuries.
Quality Medical Treatment
Despite being supported by charitable donations, children and parents can expect to receive quality medical treatment at any one of the 22 Shriner’s Hospitals for Children. The Shiners Burns Institutes are especially well-known for providing excellent emergency and non-emergency care to children who are injured in burn accidents.
Hope for Families of Injured Children
An accident that results in a serious injury or burn injury to your child can be devastating to you emotionally and financially. While a lawsuit can help you recover the losses and expenses associated with seeking medical treatment, this may not solve your immediate need to obtain medical care for your child. Those cash-strapped families or families without health insurance whose child is in need of immediate and/or ongoing medical care should consider seeking care and treatment for their child from the Shriners Hospitals.
How a Personal Injury Attorney Can Help You and Your Family
I’m Ed Smith, a seasoned California personal injury attorney who can help your family if your child has suffered an injury as a result of another person’s behavior by working swiftly and effectively to protect your child’s and your family’s legal rights and interests. While Shriners Hospitals will provide children with emergency and/or ongoing medical treatment until their 18th birthdays, your child may need medical care and treatment into adulthood.
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer since 1982. Call me anytime at 916-921-6400 in Sacramento or 800-404-5400 Elsewhere.
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