Area McDonald's restaurants donate family room at Saint Francis

A fully-stocked kitchen, overstuffed chairs and faux fireplace aren't the typical amenities people find in hospital waiting areas. But families whose newborn children require special care now can relax in a space that looks more like a living room than a hospital waiting area.

Local McDonald's restaurant owners donated the cost of construction for the new Family Room at the expanded Family BirthPlace at Saint Francis Medical Center.

The Family Room, and expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Family BirthPlace at Saint Francis Medical Center were dedicated during an open house March 31. Bishop John J. Leibrecht of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese blessed the space during the open house ceremony.

Shannon York Davis, who also serves on the board of directors for the Saint Francis Medical Center Foundation, spearheaded the Family Room project. His firm, Arch Nemesis, owns 12 McDonald's restaurants in several states.

For years, Davis' father Jerry had hoped to build a Ronald McDonald House in Southeast Missouri, but the project never came to fruition. Jerry Davis died in 2003 but a statue in the Family Room honors his commitment to the concept.

The Family Room "is really the same idea but there are no overnight accommodations," Davis said. "It's a home away from home."

The Family Room is a 500-square-foot area that offers amenities that most people would find in a private home -- from the DVD and flat-screen TV to the fireplace and well-stocked kitchen. There is even a patio off the area where families can enjoy the outdoors.

Davis approached Saint Francis about adding the Family Room to the expanded NICU about a year ago. "Our hopes are that as Saint Francis Medical Center grows, more and more kids will be treated here and not taken to bigger cities. We hope to grow with the program."

The Family Room project was funded as a collective effort of the Tri-State Chapter of Ronald McDonald Children's House Charities.

The expanded area began accepting patients April 4.