Better care for more kids: Why the Davies family supports Dallas’ new pediatric campus

Natalie still remembers how scared her parents were when her older brother, Robert, got a severe concussion while rollerblading. Her mom, Pilar, was relieved when Robert got better – but stayed concerned about their experience at the emergency room.

“We grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and at the time, there wasn’t a pediatric emergency room at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. So in the emergency department, my parents and brother were waiting with adults with all kinds of needs,” Natalie said. “It was chaotic and not an ideal place for kids or their parents, particularly in one of the scariest moments of their lives. It lit a fire in my mom to advocated for a children’s facility that would include a designated pediatric ER in our community.”

That's what started their family's passion for advancing pediatric medicine. Over the next few years, Pilar joined others in their community, who were on a mission to establish a pediatric emergency department at the hospital. Thanks to the dedication of Pilar and other community supporters, the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital opened their emergency room in Palo Alto, Calif..

When she was old enough, Natalie started volunteering in the emergency department that her mom helped make possible.

“I speak Spanish, so I spent a lot of my time with Spanish-speaking families, comforting siblings of kids receiving care,” Natalie said. “That taught me how important it is to make sure the hospital feels accessible and safe for everyone.”

When the family moved to Dallas, they wanted to continue to support pediatric health in their community.

“When you are at a hospital, particularly a children’s hospital, you are at your most vulnerable. Anything that can be done to make that experience more accessible and less scary is of utmost importance, and Children’s Health does a phenomenal job ensuring that there is never a barrier to care and that everyone has equal access, all while providing exceptional care to the most important people in a parent’s life – our children,” Natalie said.

Now, Natalie and Robert’s wife, Mallory, are carrying on the family’s commitment as champions for pediatric health care. Through their family’s foundation, they have committed to support Children’s Health’s new pediatric campus in Dallas. The project will allow the hospital system to care for a growing pediatric population in North Texas and pioneer innovative research and lifesaving treatments that focus on each child’s unique needs.   

“Mallory and I each have three kids, and nothing is more important to us than ensuring families have every health resource available when their child needs medical care,” Natalie said. “Supporting the new hospital in Dallas is our way of continuing what my mom started but in our new community we’ve set roots at here in Texas.”

The new campus, which will ultimately replace Children’s Medical Center Dallas, will be the most significant investment made by the partnership between Children’s Health and UT Southwestern and will be one of the largest children’s and most transformative hospital projects in the country.

“Our family feels that in supporting pediatric health, we’re supporting our community,” Natalie said. “We love raising our kids here and having Children’s Health available to every family is a real strength for our community.”

The family’s devotion to pediatric health deepened when they became a grateful patient family. Two of Mallory’s kids have severe allergies and the Children’s Health Allergy and Immunology team has been their source of guidance and hope.

“Having kids with food allergies that are so severe they could be fatal is something we never expected. But the Children’s Health team has coached us and comforted us every step of the way,” Mallory said.

Since their first appointment with their pediatric allergist, J. Andrew Bird, M.D., director of the Food Allergy Center, Mallory and Robert have felt empowered by their own role as part of their kids’ care team.

They appreciate Dr. Bird teaching them and their kids about how to live with allergies. And helping Mallory and Robert manage their worries, without holding their kids back from the fun of childhood.

“It’s not easy being a kid who has to stop and think about if the food around them is safe,” Mallory said. “They don’t have to worry at home, but anywhere else, we have to know every ingredient before they take a bite. We also don’t want them to be constantly afraid. It’s a difficult balance when they’re young.”

As careful as the family is, it’s impossible to predict and prevent every potential interaction with an allergen food. On the rare occasion one of their kids has ingested a food that set off a reaction, it’s meant a trip to the Children’s Health emergency room.

“We’ve had some very scary moments, and I am grateful for the Children’s Health emergency department team and the allergy team,” Mallory said.

“Being in a position to support a new hospital that can care for even more kids and all their unique needs is special to me because there are so many parents like us, who work hard to manage their child’s health every day,” she said.