On Dec. 21, 1992, the Louisiana Secretary of State recognized the incorporation of the Louisiana Child Caring Foundation — the entity that eventually became the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation.
In recognition of our 25th anniversary, we’re catching up with grantees, starting with our 23 classes of Angel Award honorees.
Twenty years ago, Stacey Debevec was co-founder of the Pediatric Therapy Center, the Alexandria area’s first center-based facility for developmental, speech, hearing and physical therapies.
The center is the first of its kind in the area and allows patients to get quality care locally.
In 2010, the Angel Award grant allowed the center to buy much needed new equipment. Since then, the number of patients they have seen at the center has grown from about 300 a week to about 550.
The growth in patients was so large, the center has moved to a larger facility and has hired more staff.
While Debevec no longer oversees the day-to-day work at the center, she is still using her passion to provide patients with the best medical services for their individual needs in her job as a program developer at Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital.
Debevec’s goal is to not only provide patients with quality care, but to also inform patients and families about their options.
“We need to find smarter and more efficient ways to provide patients with care, and educating them so that they “can be active participants in making decisions about their care,” Debevec said.