Renita Williams Thomas
In Loving Arms Pediatric Day Health Center
It takes a village to take care of a child with special needs. As the adoptive mother of a child who was born medically fragile, Renita Williams Thomas knows how important it is to have resources available for parents with children that require extra care. That’s why she opened In Loving Arms Pediatric Day Health Center, a skilled nursing facility for medically fragile children.
In Loving Arms is a state-of-the-art medical facility with pediatric nurses, medical assistants, early education specialists, and physical, occupational, and speech therapists on staff to provide children ages newborn to 21 with the specialized services that they need. This allows parents the ability to work, run errands, or go to school knowing their child’s medical needs will be addressed while they are at the facility. “When you walk into our clinic, you will never be the same,” says Williams Thomas. “Just like a daycare center, we have bright and beautiful colors with games and activities. We also have early education specialists who visits each clinic daily to make sure the children are on task cognitively as well as clinically.”
The diverse staff at In Loving Arms serves infants and children who are technology dependent, developmentally delayed, or have multisystem involvement. Since 2012, they have taken care of more than 1000 children, from premature babies to children with rare genetic syndromes. These children have learned, played, and developed new skills all while undergoing the treatments they need for their survival. Whatever medical deviation your child may have, In Loving Arms is there to help them not only survive but thrive.
“It’s something you never expect to see here,” Williams Thomas adds. “It is truly a hidden gem. When I brought my daughter home the day I decided to foster her, I told my husband, ‘when God speaks to you, it’s not a conference call. I knew at that moment that specialized pediatric healthcare was my calling.”
