How we began...

I've been caring for children and adolescents with disabilities for 40 years, first as a physical therapist, and later as a physician. It has always been frustrating when insurance companies will not cover equipment that they feel is not medically necessary.

One example is the transit option, which is the part of the wheelchair frame that is needed to tie the chair down when a child is being transported while sitting in their chair. This is needed for public transportation, on school buses and in the family's adapted van. All families want it, because they want their child transported safely. Most insurances do not cover it.

When my beautiful great-niece Julianna was born with a congenital brain malformation which caused cerebral palsy, I decided that if insurance would not pay for the tie-down option, we would.

And thus the Julianna Rose Foundation was born.

Eileen Donovan-Lopez, MD, President