Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children Joins New National Alliance, Together for Kids

New Nonprofit Foundation to Combat Childhood Obesity and Promote Accident Prevention

Falls Church, VA – (September 26, 2007) —Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children is proud to announce its membership in a new nonprofit foundation, Together for Kids™, which held its national launch today at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

This alliance of 53 hospitals will raise much needed funds at the national level to help Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children and other member hospitals address the health challenges facing today’s children. Together for Kids’ mission is to rally more resources to improve children’s health in the U.S. and will focus its efforts on the issues of childhood obesity and accident prevention.

“As Northern Virginia’s only children’s hospital, we look for every opportunity to enhance the programs and treatments we offer to our patients,” said Robert Silver, administrator, Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children. “By becoming part of this alliance, we’ll have access to more resources that we can put toward programs and initiatives to improve the health of children here in our area.”

Together for Kids will raise funds through corporate sponsorships, events, grants and other forms of philanthropy, and then distribute the funds to member hospitals to address the most urgent children’s health needs in their communities.

Together for Kids’ first annual national fundraising campaign, Come Out to Play!, will be in April 2008. This will be a month-long series of events around the country that will raise funds for hospitalized children and will encourage families and their kids to take part in active play that’s healthy and safe.

Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children is a 186-bed facility on the campus of Inova Fairfax Hospital. It houses Northern Virginia’s only Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), a subspecialty Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and a Pediatric Emergency Department. Specialties include pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery programs, as well as a pediatric hematology/oncology unit.

Inova Health System is a not-for-profit health care system based in Northern Virginia that consists of hospitals and other health services including emergency and urgent care centers, home care, nursing homes, mental health and blood donor services, and wellness classes. Governed by a voluntary board of community members, Inova’s mission is to improve the health of the diverse community we serve through excellence in patient care, education and research.