Quality of Care
Due to the severity of our campers conditions, most of them spend a good portion of their childhood in hospitals and doctor’s offices – and are often faced with times of fear, isolation and uncertainly. At times they may miss school, field trips and friends’ birthday parties. Most of them certainly miss the childhood experience of summer camp because most camps cannot care for their complex medical needs. These normal childhood opportunities, which can help children develop healthy self esteem, basic social skills and a bright outlook, may be decreased for children living with an illness. They not only miss out on experiences that other children have, but are often placed into a dependent role when they are sick, where many decisions are made for them.
At Hole in the Wall Camps children rediscover their hidden talents, create meaningful friendships and gain a greater understanding of their own strength and courage. Although the focus of camp is not on the medical component, we pride ourselves on our high-quality medical centers and our ability to care for children of all abilities, whether on, or off treatment. Children with over 150 different medical conditions come to camp including cancer, hemophilia, spina bifida, HIV and sickle cell disease.
Each camp has a child-friendly medical center complete with private exam areas, observation rooms, a pharmacy and a nurse’s station. These centers are designed to provide all of the medical care a child may need at camp in a child-centered, caring way including factor infusions, chemotherapy treatments and any acute medical needs such as scrapes, bug bites, fevers, colds or conditions related to a child’s illness. All the camps have emergency equipment on site and many have helicopter landing pads if air transportation is necessary.
Also remember, there are no white coats at camp. Our medical team can often be found at the ropes course or at the horse corral, where they are always ready to help if a child needs support.
By combining exciting activities, kinship among campers with similar experiences and high-quality medical care, our camps create incomparable experiences for children affected by serious illnesses.
Learn more about the
POSITIVE EFFECTS Hole in the Wall Camps have on the children we serve.