HAMPTON ROADS, Va. –   Dominion Energy has donated $250,000 to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters to support the new mental health hospital being constructed to address the mental health crisis in youth.

Dominion Energy is a longtime supporter of community improvements. The company’s generous donation is a testament to the value Dominion Energy places on the children and families of Hampton Roads and the entire commonwealth.

“We’re honored to support the construction of this much-needed facility,” said Bonita Billingsley Harris, regional policy director at Dominion Energy. “The new hospital will offer critical support for children and families in our community for years to come.”

When the $224 million building opens in 2022, it will provide a full spectrum of mental health care for children, providing both inpatient care and a robust outpatient care program.

The  60-bed mental health facility will bring together aspects of the best pediatric psychiatric facilities in the country, including inpatient rooms with sleeping accommodations for a parent, a rooftop recreation area where hospitalized children can get exercise and fresh air, and therapeutic rooms for art and music therapy.

The 14-story facility is expected to ease a statewide shortage of psychiatric beds for children, and will also provide a “partial hospitalization” program that provides care to children who will spend most of the day at the hospital, but still reside at home.

The CHKD mental health hospital will employ 415 doctors, nurses, therapists, and other mental health professionals who will treat children across the state and beyond. 

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About Dominion Energy 

More than 7 million customers in 16 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to sustainable, reliable, affordable and safe energy and to achieving net zero carbon dioxide and methane emissions from its power generation and gas infrastructure operations by 2050. Please visit  to learn more. 

About CHKD

CHKD is the only freestanding children’s hospital in Virginia and serves the medical and surgical needs of children throughout greater Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and northeastern North Carolina. The not-for-profit CHKD Health System operates primary care pediatric practices, surgical practices, multi-service health centers, urgent care centers, and satellite offices throughout its service region. In 2019, CHKD broke ground on a 60-bed, 14-story mental health hospital and outpatient center on its campus to address the mental health crisis facing our youth. The new tower being built on CHKD’s campus in Norfolk is scheduled to open in 2022. Learn more at CHKD.org.

NORFOLK, Va. –  94.9 The Point’s annual Radiothon raised more than $240,000 for CHKD during a three-day campaign, the first in 19 years to be broadcast during a pandemic.

Rather than the usual live broadcast from CHKD’s lobby, The Point’s morning show hosts Mike Powers and Woo Woo aired inspirational interviews with patients and CHKD professionals from the radio station’s Virginia Beach studio to reduce risk of COVID-19 exposure to the children and others.

Since its beginning 19 years ago, 94.9 The Point Radiothon has raised more than $5 million to purchase equipment, fund research, support patient care programs, and expand our mental health program.

Many thanks to this year’s Radiothon sponsors: Stihl, Langley Federal Credit Union, GEICO Cares, Southern Virginia Ford Dealers, Kroger, Cavalier Ford Greenbrier, The CHAS Foundation, and Precision Measurements.

The community’s outpouring of support of CHKD through the Radiothon is a testament to your trust in our team of doctors, nurses, social workers, child life specialists, and many others dedicated to providing the best care to children of all ages.

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CHKD is the only freestanding children’s hospital in Virginia and serves the medical and surgical needs of children throughout greater Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and northeastern North Carolina. The not-for-profit CHKD Health System operates primary care pediatric practices, surgical practices, multi-service health centers, urgent care centers, and satellite offices throughout its service region. In 2019, CHKD broke ground on a 60-bed, 14-story mental health hospital and outpatient center on its campus to address the mental health crisis facing our youth. The new tower being built on CHKD’s campus in Norfolk is scheduled to open in 2022. Learn more at CHKD.org.

The hospital will not be accepting in-person gifts this year to keep children safe from COVID-19

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – CHKD has always appreciated the generosity of the community toward our patients during the holidays. This year, because of the coronavirus pandemic, CHKD is altering its donation guidelines for the holiday season, and providing online donation options.

We will not be accepting in-person donations to reduce exposure to COVID-19, but we have ways people can safely contribute toys and other items to CHKD through websites.

Online purchases made through Walmart Registry for Good and Amazon Smile Charity Wish List will enhance the excitement and spirit of the season for our patients, while keeping them as safe as possible.

To shop at the Walmart Registry for Good, visit Walmart.com/RegistryForGood and look for CHKD’s child life approved list. You can also purchase gifts through Amazon Smile Charity Wish List by logging into your Amazon Smile account and designating Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters as your charity of choice.

Please be advised that all gifts purchased online come to us anonymously. Therefore, we encourage you to send us your name and order details by email to Gifts@CHKD.org, so we can acknowledge your thoughtfulness. Walmart or Amazon gift cards are also a great gift for families and can be sent to us by mail to this address: CHKD Philanthropy Office, 601 Children’s Lane, Norfolk, Virginia, 23507. Cash donations can be accepted by check to this address or made online at CHKD.org/Donate.

In addition, you can also help win Mattel and Fisher-Price toys for CHKD patients by voting for us during the annual Spread Joy with Toys campaign organized by the Children’s Hospital Association. From November 18 through December 2, you can nominate CHKD as your favorite children’s hospital for a chance for CHKD patients to receive free toys.

Thanks to you, we can make the holidays special for our children, even in the middle of a pandemic.

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CHKD is the only freestanding children’s hospital in Virginia and serves the medical and surgical needs of children throughout greater Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and northeastern North Carolina. The not-for-profit CHKD Health System operates primary care pediatric practices, surgical practices, multi-service health centers, urgent care centers, and satellite offices throughout its service region. In 2019, CHKD broke ground on a 60-bed, 14-story mental health hospital and outpatient center on its campus to address the mental health crisis facing our youth. The new tower being built on CHKD’s campus in Norfolk is scheduled to open in 2022.

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. –   The James M. Cox Communications has donated $100,000 to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters to help the hospital system cope with expenses related to its response to COVID-19 while continuing to improve services to the region’s children. The foundation is affiliated with Cox Enterprises, the parent company of Cox Communications and Cox Automotive, and provides support in communities where its businesses operate. 

CHKD and Cox Communications have a longstanding relationship in the Hampton Roads region, most recently through a Cox Charities grant on behalf of Cox Virginia employees.

Since the pandemic emerged locally in March, CHKD has expanded its testing capabilities, developed screening and monitoring protocols, searched for supplies of personal protective equipment, and treated children with COVID-19 and the associated condition, multisystem inflammatory syndrome. Training and education also increased in response to the pandemic.

Additionally, the health system created an environment for safe delivery of treatments to children facing health crises, such as traumatic injuries, cancer and premature birth, along with ongoing chronic conditions. Telehealth platforms have been expanded to give families more treatment options.

CHKD also has continued facility improvements, including a renovation of its neonatal intensive care unit and construction of a $224 million mental health center to treat youth in crisis, a population that is expected to grow in these times of isolation and uncertainty.

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About the James M. Cox Foundation 
The James M. Cox Foundation is named in honor of Cox Enterprises' founder and provides funding for capital campaigns and special projects in communities where the company operates. James M. Cox was Ohio's first three-term governor and the 1920 Democratic nominee for president of the United States. The Foundation concentrates its community support in several areas including: conservation and environment; early childhood education; empowering families and individuals for success; and health.  

About Cox Communications

Cox Communications is committed to creating meaningful moments of human connection through broadband applications and services. The largest private telecom company in America, we proudly serve six million homes and businesses across 18 states. We're dedicated to empowering others to build a better future and celebrate diverse products, people, suppliers, communities and the characteristics that make each one unique. Cox Communications is the largest division of Cox Enterprises, a family-owned business founded in1898 by Governor James M. Cox.

About CHKD

CHKD is the only freestanding children’s hospital in Virginia and serves the medical and surgical needs of children throughout greater Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and northeastern North Carolina. The not-for-profit CHKD Health System operates primary care pediatric practices, surgical practices, multi-service health centers, urgent care centers, and satellite offices throughout its service region. In 2019, CHKD broke ground on a 60-bed, 14-story mental health hospital and outpatient center on its campus to address the mental health crisis facing our youth. The new tower being built on CHKD’s campus in Norfolk is scheduled to open in 2022. Learn more at CHKD.org.

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – CHKD is pleased to welcome Dr. Parvathi Kumar to our team of infectious disease specialists.

Dr. Kumar received her medical degree from Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, in India. She did her residency at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, and completed a fellowship in pediatric infectious disease at CHKD.

Dr. Kumar trained in India and brings experience in infectious diseases frequently seen in tropical countries and developing nations.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Kumar.

Dr. Parvathi Kumar

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CHKD is the only freestanding children’s hospital in Virginia and serves the medical and surgical needs of children throughout greater Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and northeastern North Carolina. The not-for-profit CHKD Health System operates primary care pediatric practices, surgical practices, multi-service health centers, urgent care centers, and satellite offices throughout its service region. In 2019, CHKD broke ground on a 60-bed, 14-story mental health hospital and outpatient center on its campus to address the mental health crisis facing our youth. The new tower being built on CHKD’s campus in Norfolk is scheduled to open in 2022. Learn more at CHKD.org.

NORFOLK, Va. –  Whether it’s a device that helps children communicate with friends, or a stroller that makes it easier to play with family on the beach, adaptive devices help children with disabilities live life to the fullest.

CHKD announced today a new collaboration with Children’s Assistive Technology Service, an organization that refurbishes adaptive devices and other medical equipment for children with disabilities. Sometimes the child’s family doesn’t have insurance, or, more commonly, the insurance companies don’t consider the device medically necessary. Some can cost thousands of dollars, so CATS cleans and refurbishes gently used devices and either gives or loans them to children for free.

CHKD has supported the organization since it started operating in Hampton Roads in 2016. The hospital system recently entered an agreement with the organization to create a partnership in which CHKD picks up equipment for CATS and provides space in CHKD’s adaptive seating clinic for the devices to be cleaned and refurbished. 

Beth Beach, an occupational therapist at CHKD, helped start the CATS operation in Hampton Roads. Roanoke and Richmond also have CATS programs. “Technology has come such a long way in designing equipment that can help children with disabilities do so many more activities, but they can be expensive,” said Beach, who has been an occupational therapist for more than 30 years.

For instance, Macie Leiphart, a 7-year-old Virginia Beach girl with cerebral palsy, has most of her medical equipment, such as a wheelchair, covered by insurance. But when her family filed for insurance to cover a special device that helps her stand up, the company said it wasn’t medically necessary. The $3,000 cost was steep, especially since she can outgrow the device fairly quickly.

CATS was able to provide a device when she 3, and another one last year when she outgrew the first one. She can stand at the counter to do arts and crafts, dye Easter eggs, and help her mom cook. “It really expanded the different activities she can do,” said her mother, Laura Leiphart. “She also uses it at school, so she can stand up in class like the other kids.”

Chesapeake 5-year-old Christian Farley also had his horizons expanded by CATS.  Christian has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and is also blind. He loves the water, so his family applied for a beach stroller through CATS so he could go to the beach. “I’ve lived in Chesapeake my whole life, so I grew up going to the beach,” says his mother, Jessica Farley. “We really wanted to make memories like that for Christian, too, since the water is his absolute favorite thing in the world.”

Macie and Christian are just a few in a growing number of local children who have been helped by the organization. In 2019, 452 items were provided to 432 children throughout Hampton Roads.

More information about the program can be found at the CATS website.

Left: Macie Leiphart, 7, enjoys a higher view in the family kitchen in Virginia Beach, thanks to an adaptive device that helps her stand. 

Right: Five-year-old Christian Farley of Chesapeake enjoys beach time with his family in an adaptive beach stroller he received from CATS.

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CHKD is the only freestanding children’s hospital in Virginia and serves the medical and surgical needs of children throughout greater Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and northeastern North Carolina. The not-for-profit CHKD Health System operates primary care pediatric practices, surgical practices, multi-service health centers, urgent care centers, and satellite offices throughout its service region. In 2019, CHKD broke ground on a 60-bed, 14-story mental health hospital and outpatient center on its campus to address the mental health crisis facing our youth. The new tower being built on CHKD’s campus in Norfolk is scheduled to open in 2022. Learn more at CHKD.org.

Children’s Assistive Technology Service (CATS) provides for the re-use of pediatric rehabilitation equipment and assistive technology devices in Virginia.  CATS serves as a no-cost resource for children with disabilities who need adaptive equipment and whose families have limited resources. 

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – The Hampton Roads Community Foundation has awarded a $1 million grant to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters to support the health system’s new 60-bed mental health hospital and outpatient center for children and adolescents.

The grant is one of the most generous the foundation has awarded in recent history.

The mental health crisis facing our children has surfaced at every level of CHKD’s regional care network for children, from our primary care pediatricians and outpatient clinics to our mental health therapists and emergency department. CHKD launched a bold initiative in 2015 to answer the community’s need for more mental health services.

The centerpiece of this transformational response is a 14-story facility, currently under construction on the same campus as CHKD’s main hospital. The $224 million tower is scheduled to open in 2022, and will provide a full spectrum of mental health care for children, including outpatient therapy, inpatient rooms with sleeping accommodations for a parent, and a “partial hospitalization” program in which children will receive treatment during the day, and return home at night.

Children’s mental wellness is a civic leadership initiative of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, which is southeastern Virginia’s largest grant and scholarship provider. In 2019, for example, the organization partnered with CHKD on a forum featuring renowned child psychiatrist Gregory Fritz, M.D., to engage the community in conversation about the challenges and opportunities for all youth to have good mental health.
The foundation recognizes that the mental health needs of the region’s children have become even more imperative during the pandemic as children’s social and educational foundations shift, and their families endure financial and health hardships.

“CHKD’s newest facility will help meet the needs of pediatric patients grappling with mental health issues,” said Deborah DiCroce, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. “The hospital – coupled with broad community support for it – will have a transformational effect on the lives of children and families in the region and state. The community foundation enthusiastically supports this effort.”

Even before the pandemic, this community did not have the capacity to meet the crushing mental health needs of children. Community pediatricians are overwhelmed with mental health needs of patients, and children are spending too much time waiting for openings for care.

“We are so grateful to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation for recognizing the critical need for more mental health services for children in our area,” said CHKD President and CEO Jim Dahling. “The foundation’s leadership and support of our mental health initiative serves as a rallying cry for the community, as individuals, organizations, and businesses work together to bring these desperately needed services to our children.”

John Lawson II, chair of the Lighting the Way Campaign that is raising philanthropic support for CHKD’s  mental health initiative, said decisions made by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation truly set the stage for the most important priorities in our region. “This historic gift signals the critical investment necessary to address the gaping holes in mental health services, not just for children here in Hampton Roads, but throughout the commonwealth and beyond.”

Artist’s rendering of CHKD mental health hospital and outpatient center.

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – CHKD is pleased to welcome Dr. Carlos Sendon to our pulmonary and sleep medicine practice.

Dr. Sendon received his medical degree from the University of San Martin De Porres in Lima, Peru, and did his residency in pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk. He completed a pediatric pulmonary fellowship at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., and a sleep medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Dr. Sendon’s clinical interests include asthma, chronic cough, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, recurrent pneumonia, primary ciliary dyskinesia, and technology-dependent and sleep-breathing disorders.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Sendon.

Dr. Carlos Sendon

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CHKD is the only freestanding children’s hospital in Virginia and serves the medical and surgical needs of children throughout greater Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and northeastern North Carolina. The not-for-profit CHKD Health System operates primary care pediatric practices, surgical practices, multi-service health centers, urgent care centers, and satellite offices throughout its service region. In 2019, CHKD broke ground on a 60-bed, 14-story mental health hospital and outpatient center on its campus to address the mental health crisis facing our youth. The new tower being built on CHKD’s campus in Norfolk is scheduled to open in 2022. Learn more at CHKD.org.