Where Your Gift Goes

Mercy Children’s Hospital has been a leader in providing autism services to the Toledo Area since 2004. Mercy Autism Services can provide services to children from birth through the age of 12 and emphasizes evidence-based autism intervention. Dr. Richard Solomon, a renowned expert, author, and international speaker on autism is the Medical Director of Mercy’s Autism Program.

Services provided include: CHIP (an all-day intensive intervention program), Giant Steps (a half day intensive intervention program), P.L.A.Y Project (one-on-one intervention with child and family) and Customized Care Plans (“a la carte” services to meet a patient and family’s needs). We are the only program in the Northwest Ohio Region that utilizes Applied Behavior Analysis, Occupational therapy, Speech Therapy, as well as the P.L.A.Y. Project as core concepts for our care planning.

Mercy Children’s Hospital is a proud supporter of our Hippotherapy program. Hippotherapy is a physical, occupational, and speech therapy treatment strategy that utilizes the movement of the horse. Hippotherapy is used as part of an integrated treatment program to achieve functional outcomes. Mercy Children’s Hospital is the only facility offering hippotherapy in Northwest Ohio and surrounding areas.

The horse’s movement provides the patient with movement experiences difficult to replicate in a traditional environment. It is this variety of movement and multisensory experience that allows patients to achieve new functional outcomes and behaviors. Postural control, balance reactions, hip, pelvic and spinal mobility can all be improved in Hippotherapy.

The Child Life program at Mercy Children’s Hospital is a very important tool for decreasing the stress and trauma of hospitalization experienced by infants, children and adolescents. Our Child Life Specialists provide play experiences for young patients, as play is the most powerful and effective means of stress reduction in children.

Patients visit with therapy dogs, express their creativity through art, enjoy computer and video games and engage in a variety of other fun activities!

Your contribution helps support the most urgent impacts of Mercy Health - Children’s Hospital — the needs that insurance does not cover, but make our hospital a special place of hope and healing for our patients and families. From providing vital funding for medical equipment to educational assistance and support for families adjusting to illness and hospitalization, your contribution is making a difference.