Ronald McDonald House to Expand in Palo Alto

Families with sick children will be able to stay close to them longer now that the City of Palo Alto approved the expansion of the Ronald McDonald House.

"We do a tremendous job of taking care of the 47 families that stay with us at the House every night," said Annette Eros, chief executive officer at Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. "However, we are deeply concerned about the 40-50 families on our waiting list every day. This approval moves us one critical step further to providing the solution for these families in crisis, which is a larger facility with more capacity." 

The unanimous vote Monday allows families of children with life-threatening illnesses treated at area hospitals like the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital to remain in a facility that feels like a home during their child's long-term care.

The additional 52,000-square-feet to the Ronald McDonald House, expected to begin in 2014, takes place next to the current facility at 520 Sand Hill Road—walking distance from Lucile Packard. The new facility increases the number of guest room from 47 to 69 and provides a home-like kitchen and dining areas, comfortable living spaces, a library and resource center, a fitness and rehabilitation facility, age-specific activity rooms, a classroom, and a healing garden and retreat.

According to studies the presence of a parent can cut the average length of hospital stay for their child by 31 percent.

"Expanding Ronald McDonald House at Stanford is wonderful news," said Jack Komejan, director of social services at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. "Thanks to advances in care, more and more children with life-threatening illnesses are able to stay at the House while receiving treatment at the hospital. This population is growing in numbers, so we’re very happy that our families will now have increased access to this home-away-from-home."

The average length of stay for families at Ronald McDonald House has increased by nearly 500 percent since 2003 when the last expansion was completed and the average length of stay was six nights.  

Since opening in 1979, the House has provided nearly 350,000 nights of lodging for families in crisis.