Patient Support
Enhancing care and hope for all
You help care for our community through Inova’s Patient Support Fund, which bridges gaps our patients may face, like a mother’s inability to pay for a wheelchair for her child after a tragic accident or assisting a family with transportation to visit their loved one in our care. While not a substitute for community resources, this fund ensures that support for patients in our care is there when it’s needed most.
At its core, this fund reflects Inova’s commitment to putting patients first, always.
Every day, many individuals in our community face an impossible decision: to continue another day without preventive treatment, another day living with persistent pain, another day hoping symptoms don’t mean something worse.
Seeking care for some of our most vulnerable community members often comes with daunting hurdles: transportation challenges, arranging childcare, adjusting or missing work shifts, high medication costs and the risk of more bills.
Sometimes it’s a limitation that prevents long overdue needs in care. That’s where Inova Health Foundation’s Patient Support Fund steps in – just as they did in Alex’s story below.
THE GIFT OF VOICE
Patient Story: Alex
Alex is a 13-year-old devoted Washington Nationals fan. Because he also lives with a complex neurometabolic disorder, he uses a wheelchair for muscle weakness and relies on a ventilator to breathe, which prevents him from being able to speak. In the past, the only way he could communicate was by closing his eyes to say “no” and raising his left leg for a “yes.” Alex’s mind remains sharp, and he can read and fully engage with the world in all other ways – he just needed a way to be heard.
Until recently, patients like Alex who needed Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) technology had to travel long distances for evaluations and follow-up care. Alex’s respiratory condition makes travel nearly impossible, rendering these tools out of reach.
Thanks to your support through patient support funds, Inova was able to provide evaluations and technology fittings for him, close to home. With the proper technology identified, our team worked with his insurance provider to secure his own communication device – now permanently mounted to his wheelchair. Today, Alex can express his thoughts, needs, and personality for the first time – bringing newfound independence, confidence and connection to his life.
Your support makes this possible. Your generosity bridges the gap – ensuring those in need have access to essential resources to live healthier, fuller lives.
MUSIC THERAPY
Patient Story: Jose
Last year, 19-year-old Jose was diagnosed with cancer and faced serious complications that resulted in him being admitted to the ICU. While receiving care at Inova, he met our children’s music therapist, Mariagracia “MG” Rivas Berger, MMT, LPMT, MT-BC, who helped him channel his emotions into songwriting. Jose wrote an anthem about resilience and hope. Here are the powerful lyrics of his song.
Donor Spotlight: Jim and Rebecca McDermott
Inova’s Music Therapy program brings the healing power of music to patients and their families across the region, funding five music therapists throughout Inova who provide support for our youngest patients in the NICU to those receiving end-of-life care. Entirely funded through philanthropy, this program supports five dedicated music therapists thanks to the generosity of donors like Jim and Rebecca McDermott —steadfast champions of music therapy. Jim also serves as Chair for the Inova Loudoun Hospital Foundation Board, further deepening their commitment to this transformative, evidence-based care. We are profoundly grateful to everyone whose support makes this healing work possible.
Inova’s Music Therapy program brings the healing power of music to patients and their families across the region, funding five music therapists throughout Inova who provide support for our youngest patients in the NICU to those receiving end-of-life care. Entirely funded through philanthropy, this program supports five dedicated music therapists thanks to the generosity of donors like Jim and Rebecca McDermott —steadfast champions of music therapy. Jim also serves as Chair for the Inova Loudoun Hospital Foundation Board, further deepening their commitment to this transformative, evidence-based care. We are profoundly grateful to everyone whose support makes this healing work possible.
“Music therapists are integral members of our health care team and bring hope and healing to our patients, families, and team alike. The feedback we have received from patients and families is undeniable. Music therapy allows them to work through complex issues that deeply affect their care, whether they are dealing with an acute injury, rehabilitation, chronic illness, or beyond. This whole-person care is at the heart of putting patients first.”
- Jennifer Bires, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C CST Executive Director, Peterson Life with Cancer, Arts and Healing and Patient Experience Inova Schar Cancer
ANIMAL ASSISTED CARE PROGRAM
Patient Story: A Compassionate Companion
The power of compassionate care is universally felt. So much so, that it even transcends species. Inova’s Animal Assisted Care Program provides patients with this gentle form of healing thanks to our Chief Comfort Officers (CCO’s) —dogs who are part of our animal-assisted therapy program. In 2024, your efforts enabled our Chief Comfort Officers to touch the lives of patients in remarkable ways, including giving voice to the voiceless.
An Inova patient was struggling with verbal communication while recovering from a stroke. This patient was only able to make sounds and was having difficulty forming complete words or sentences. As an avid dog lover, the patient’s care team requested a visit from one of our Chief Comfort Officers. The CCO stayed by their bedside, providing soothing comfort with their presence. As the service dog began to leave with its handler, the patient spoke for the first time, calling out the dog’s name and saying, “Goodbye!”
This breakthrough opened the door for the patient’s care team to secure more comfort visits. These types of animal connections serve as lifelines for our patients. Amid the anxiety of the unknown, on the winding road to recovery, hope and resilience can be found through the compassion and love of an animal to foster healing.
“Supporting the Animal Assisted Care Program isn't just about bringing comfort, it's about unlocking healing through connection. When medicine meets the boundless compassion of an animal, patients find strength, hope and a reason to smile.”
- Dana Hisaoka, Inova Supporter
Your support makes this kind of care possible, where feelings of fear and despair can give way to connection, hope and comfort through the animals' unconditional love. Prior to 2023, Inova had just one therapy dog, at Inova Loudoun Hospital. Today, because of your generosity, we've been able to add a Chief Comfort Officer at each of Inova's hospitals bringing our total from one to six. We also have a growing team of certified volunteer dogs specially trained and accompanied by volunteers and Inova team members through philanthropic support. The thriving program now brings comfort and care to patients at Inova Loudoun, Fairfax, Fair Oaks, Mount Vernon and Alexandria Hospitals.
INOVA CARES FOR CHILDREN
In January 2025, Inova celebrated the one-year anniversary of our first pediatric sick clinic, co-located with the Falls Church Inova Cares for Children. Inova Cares provide care for uninsured and underinsured community members, ensuring everyone has access to quality health services. The sick clinic provides children timely, same-day care that reduces the need for ER or urgent care visits and allows them to return to school and other activities as quickly as possible. Patients and family members continue to express gratitude for having a location where there is no wait or need for appointments when a child doesn't feel well. They value prompt care and access to highly skilled bilingual staff.
“We are so grateful to the Shrader Family. Thanks to their generosity, parents don’t have to worry about calling ahead, or waiting in an emergency department, or about access because there’s no appointments available. Now they have a place where we can immediately take care of sick kids. Parents say, ‘I didn’t have to wait on the phone for hours, I got in and out and seen so quickly!’ And it’s not only a gift to the patients – team morale is great; everyone wants to work in the beautiful new space. I have a lot of love in my heart for the Shrader Family for making a long-term dream come true.”
- Hunter Gunn, LCSW Senior Director Community Health, Inova Cares for Women and Children
Together, thanks to your generosity and trust in Inova, we are addressing our community’s greatest needs through dedicated patient financial support lifelines for patients like those featured above. You are showing patients they are not alone, that they will not be left without care — that they can access the care they need, when they need it. Thank you for supporting our community.
