Where research meets care

Brian Schepperle and David Millington have spent a lot of time in hospitals.

Schepperle's daughter, Katelyn Elizabeth, was in and out of the hospital many times during her 10-year battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer, before she died at age 11.

Millington's wife, Dana, once spent 63 consecutive days in the hospital with their daughter, Madison Claire, whose spinal muscular atrophy took Madison's life when she was 2.

Even when hospitals become the center of families' lives, patient rooms never feel like home. Schepperle and Millington believe that has to change.

Motivated and energized

Millington approached Schepperle in 2004, knowing he, too, had lost a child to disease. As they talked, Schepperle described his ideas for creating family-friendly hospital rooms for children that were colorful, customizable, and bigger—with more space for families.

Millington was instantly energized. That week, he shared Schepperle's idea with his neighbor, Chuck Knight, who worked for the architectural design firm Perkins + Will.

From there, things moved quickly. Millington and Schepperle asked a group of hospitalized children what they'd want in an ideal room: better beds, video games, and a way to see outside.

Then the two dads raised money and sought corporate donations of equipment to help create two prototypes of the Adopt A Rooms—named to inspire other donors to sponsor additional rooms—at the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview.

The timing was perfect, Millington says. Plans were in the works for a new home for the University's children's hospital, and those involved were excited about incorporating these state-of-the-art rooms into the plan.

"When a child gets really sick, you want to go to the best place you can," says Millington. "Usually that's a research hospital like University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview."

Giving back some control

Plans for the Adopt A Rooms include bedside computers that can change the lighting and color of the rooms and control a rooftop zoom camera for exploring the outdoors.

"Children lose control of their lives when they are diagnosed," says Schepperle. "We wanted to give a little of that control back to them."

Like standard rooms in the new University children's hospital, Adopt A Rooms will be large and private, with mini-fridges and microwaves, in-room office areas, and sleeper sofas to make long stays more comfortable for families.

Millington and Schepperle are proud of how far their idea has come. "We're just a couple of dads," says Millington, adding that their wives, Dana Millington and Kristen Schepperle, have been their quiet partners throughout. "This was what Brian and I had to do to ease our pain."

Make a gift now to Adopt A Rooms, or to learn how you or your company can sponsor a room, e-mail Elizabeth Patty or call her at 612-273-8638

If you are interested in contributing to Adopt a Room, you can give online today.

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