Company Profile: History
| Since it was founded in 1971, Broward Children's Center has grown to become one of the nation's leading providers of services for infants, children and young adults with special health care needs. Here's how we've grown: |
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| 1971: | Founder, Marjorie Evans volunteers at Broward Captivated Child Care to provide services to children with profound disabilities The State soon urges the facility to expand from 6 to 12 and then 24 hours a day. The first residential program begins, serving 25 children. | ||
| 1980: | As more and more children are referred for r24-hour care, the center establishes a home for medically stable residents. | ||
| 1983: | The child care / preschool and residential programs move to Pompano Beach and the Center begins emergency respite stays for children with special needs. | ||
| 1987: | The first resident on a ventilator is accepted leading to the development of new programs that meet the needs of children with respiratory conditions. | ||
| 1989: | A respiratory therapy department is created, enhancing medical services for residents. Educational services for many children are also added, thanks to Broward County's Hospital Homebound Program. Children's Services Board of Broward County helps establish a caregivers' respite program. | ||
| 1990: | The number of children needing help continues to grow significantly, as does the age of children served. The center opens a second group home on Southwest 8th Avenue for older residents. Meanwhile, the Residential Habilitation program moves to a state-of-the-art facility. A new ventilator-dependent class is opened with School Board of Broward County help. | ||
| 1991: | The Center responds a county request for increased special needs classes by opening its second preschool in Fort Lauderdale. | ||
| 1992: | Developmental Services and Children's Medical Services say they can no longer support payment for services to residents in the residential habilitation program due to the increasing medical complexity of this population, such as children with tracheotomies or ventilators. With these changes, Broward Children's Center becomes licensed by the Agency for Health Care Administration (ACHA) as the first freestanding pediatric skilled nursing facility in the Southeast United States. | ||
| 1995: | Coastal Kids Home Care opens to provide up to 24-hour in-home nursing care for infants, children and adolescents with medically complex. | ||
| 1996: | Broward Children's Center opens a state-of-the-art, eight-bed residential facility for young adults 21 and older who need ventilator assistance or 24-hour medical care. | ||
| 1997: | Center expands its therapy programs and opens its Outpatient Clinic to provide occupational, physical and speech therapy to community infants and children. | ||
| 1999: | Increased demand sees the Center's preschool program move to a larger facility and the xpansion of services to community children. | ||
| 2000: | The Center centralizes its administrative offices in one Pompano Beach location. | ||
| 2001: | Respite Home opens, to offer relief to families who care for special-needs children at home. The home coordinates the Kids' Klinic medi-van immunizations and health screenings and the PPEC program providing day care for children with special needs. | ||
| 2002: | Kids Klinic opens an office to provide medical services, physicals vaccinations, and sick visits for children with special needs and those from lower-income families. | ||
| 2004: | To better serve shifting service population demographics the Skilled Nursing Facility and Home Health services become independent entities. | ||
