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Wish granted
Pediatric nurse Mary Carter looks on as youngsters enjoy the hospital’s new piano.
Dr. Kathleen McKie couldn’t forget the father’s letter. A letter about his critically ill child and how the simple act of playing the piano in the early morning hours during his child’s hospitalization was so calming and therapeutic. Simply playing the piano.
Dr. McKie’s daughters play the piano, so she is a great believer in the healing properties of music. As associate professor of pediatrics at MCGHealth Children’s Medical Center and assistant dean for student affairs at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, she knew the gift of music would give back to her patients, families and staff members every day.
And with the image of that father’s letter permanently fixed in her memory, she envisioned a piano at the children’s hospital, where anyone and everyone hearing it play could find comfort.
Many times, however, dreams must struggle to become reality. In this case, with tight budgets and a tighter economy, Dr. McKie couldn’t obtain funding from the hospital board for a piano purchase and was forced to explore virgin territory: a grant application.
Focusing on the Porter Fleming Foundation, whose mission is to enrich the lives of residents in Augusta and surrounding areas, Dr. McKie took a shot at writing her first grant application and submitted it for consideration.
Well, call it what you will… beginner’s luck or serendipity… the strategy worked and her wish was granted. Suddenly, and not just a bit unexpectedly, Dr. McKie had money to purchase a piano for the hospital. That’s when she headed for Turner’s Keyboards in Augusta, the exclusive dealer for the family of Steinway-designed pianos, where Lisa Turner Maddox helped the good doctor select a Boston upright piano equipped with a PianoDisc player system.
Lisa had been familiar with Dr. McKie’s dream since the doctor showed her the father’s letter two years ago, following a Turner-sponsored piano display that was part of a MCG fund-raising campaign, The Healing Gift of Music. That campaign raised enough money to acquire a Boston grand piano (GP-178) for the college’s auditorium.
Now the children’s hospital has its own UP-118 Boston upright piano in the lobby, which is a people-friendly area with soaring ceilings, a waterfall and video aquarium with moving images of underwater scenes to calm, inform and entertain.
Built in 1994, MCGHealth Children’s Medical Center – part of the academic medical center of the Medical College of Georgia – is the area’s only children’s hospital, serving the healthcare needs of children from newborns to teenagers.
Every day, Dr. McKie crisscrosses the Children’s Medical Center lobby and is overjoyed with the sounds of the Boston piano. She also considers the piano’s potential impact on the lives of children and their families who will pass through the doors of the Children’s Medical Center.
“There’s simply no limit,” she says, “to how much happiness this Boston piano will bring.”