HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – CHKD’s Child Abuse Program, dedicated to providing expert forensic, mental health, and advocacy services to children who may have experienced maltreatment and trauma has been renamed the CHKD Child Advocacy Center.

The name change, announced during National Child Abuse Prevention Month, better reflects the center’s status as a child advocacy center accredited since 2003 by National Children’s Alliance. Accredited child advocacy centers like CHKD’s are child-friendly facilities in which law enforcement, child protection, medical and mental health, judicial, and victim advocacy professionals work together to provide a multidisciplinary, collaborative response to children and families when there is a concern that abuse or neglect has occurred with the goal of preventing further trauma and strengthening resilience.

The center has been operated by CHKD since 1998, and cares for more than 1,500 children a year at locations in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Newport News. Its staff, which includes two board-certified child abuse pediatricians, forensic and mental health experts, provides compassionate, evidence-based care that actively honors each child’s specific circumstances and cultural heritage to empower and support families, and promote justice, equity, hope, and resiliency within our community.

Learn more about these services at our CHKD Child Advocacy Center website.

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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.

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – We’re pleased to welcome a developmental-behavioral pediatrician to CHKD.

Dr. Richard “Jason” Gerber, a board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatrician, received his medical degree from Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa. He did his residency with the United States Air Force in San Antonio, followed by a fellowship at the Madigan Army Medical Center in the state of Washington.

Left: Dr. Richard "Jason" Gerber

Dr. Gerber has spent 21 years with the United States Air Force, caring for children with special needs in all five branches of the military. He has many connections to various resources within the Hampton Roads community, including support groups, medical and therapeutic services, as well as early intervention services.

In addition, Dr. Gerber has a special interest in helping children with special needs make the transition to adulthood, using a variety of community resources. He loves helping parents feel empowered to advocate for their children and helping them create plans so their children reach their full potential.

Dr. Gerber will treat children in the developmental pediatrics program at CHKD. Please join us in welcoming him.

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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.

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – We are pleased to welcome Dr. Yifan Guo to the Craniofacial Center at CHKD.

Dr. Guo is a board-certified plastic surgeon who specializes in pediatric and craniofacial reconstruction and aesthetic surgery. He received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and completed his residency at Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital-Lifespan, followed by a craniofacial fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

Dr. Guo’s clinical interests are cleft lip and palate repair, minimally invasive surgery for craniosynostosis, orthographic surgery, migraine surgery, hand and peripheral nerve reconstruction, and general pediatric plastic surgery.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Guo. Pictured right.

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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. – Benjamin Goldberg was a boy who loved music, dancing, and life. He also had a rare type of cancer, which he died of in 2016 when he was 8 years old.

Thanks to a foundation his mother, Wendy Goldberg, created in his honor, the Virginia Beach boy’s spirit lives on, most recently in a playroom that was named for him on CHKD’s new inpatient hematology and oncology unit.

Right: Wendy and Benjamin Goldberg.

A $100,000 donation from the Benjamin Goldberg Foundation helped create a place where kids can play and explore and feel like a normal kid again, and also experience dance and music therapy, yoga, and guided meditation.

“When you allow creativity in through these healing resources, it can change the story,” says Wendy Goldberg.

Benches along the windows provide a quiet place for kids to daydream, and floor-to-ceiling glass panels provide both light and a viewing spot for staff and families to watch their fun.

Benjamin was diagnosed in 2013 at CHKD with neuroblastoma, a rare type of tumor that almost always affects children. He was known for tapping into music to find solace during his journey, his ever-present headphones transporting him to a place of calm. Wendy Goldberg, a longtime volunteer for CHKD, and former chair of the health system’s Development Advisory Board, wants other children to be able to find the same peace.

The playroom is a feature of a newly designed inpatient hematology and oncology unit that opened at CHKD in late 2020. For the first time, all 16 rooms are private, and also have “positive pressure,” which means air pressure inside is higher than outside the room, so airborne particles in the room are filtered out, to protect patients with fragile immune systems.

The $100,000 donation was the second the Benjamin Goldberg Foundation made to improve the lives of CHKD cancer patients. In early 2020, a $20,000 gift was made to purchase infusion backpacks that allow patients to receive drug therapy in the comfort of their home rather than spending days in the hospital. So far, the backpacks have provided 224 days of home treatment for five patients.

Whether through music, play, or infusion backpacks, the spirit of Benjamin Goldberg continues to lift the spirits of children with cancer and blood disorders.

The Benjamin Goldberg Playroom is part of a new inpatient hematology and oncology unit at CHKD.

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About The Benjamin Goldberg Foundation

The Benjamin Goldberg Foundation was established in 2018 to empower and support families on their medical journey.

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. –   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.