Welcome

George Mark Children’s House is a unique facility that provides the gift of time to children – and their families – who face life-limiting illnesses with care that is comprehensive, compassionate and leading-edge.

We offer four main forms of care: Respite care (round-the-clock), transitional care, pain and symptom management, and end-of-life care for children with lifespan-limiting illnesses and their families. Additional services include ongoing support and bereavement programs.

All services are guided by the principles of pediatric palliative care, which aims to relieve suffering associated with chronic, life-limiting conditions by providing comfort care, preserving the dignity and integrity of the child and family, and achieving the best quality of life possible, defined in partnership with the family and consistent with each family’s culture and values.

George Mark Children’s House is the first and only freestanding residential pediatric palliative care center in the United States. We would like to be the first of many.

Origins
George Mark Children’s House was co-founded by Kathleen Nicholson Hull, Psy.D., a clinical psychologist, and Barbara Beach, M.D., a pediatric oncologist, both from Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland, in California. Opened in March 2004, George Mark was named for Dr. Hull’s brothers, Mark and George, who died at the ages of 16 and 30, respectively. Drs. Beach and Hull knew from firsthand experience that losing a child has a devastating and lifelong impact on siblings, parents, extended family, and the family’s community as a whole. Through founding George Mark, they wanted to provide comprehensive and compassionate care to children with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

Key Features

• Eight bedrooms, each with an extra bed for a sibling or parent/caregiver, a private bath, and a door opening to the gardens. One of the eight bedrooms is also a positive pressure isolation room.
• Two family suites, each with a separate bedroom, kitchen, and living room
• Art and play activity rooms
• State-of-the-art multi-sensory room
• Hydrotherapy pool for therapy, pain and symptom management, and relaxation
• School curriculum tutoring for children and siblings
• Laundry room for children and families
• Therapeutic bathtub
• Quiet areas for individual and group support
• Family style dining for all meals and snacks in the Shaw Family Kitchen
• Outdoor play structure
• Susie Sears Woodson Pet Companion Center
• Private viewing room and sitting area for child and family to transition after death
• Stephen Douglas Sanctuary, a multi-denominational meditation center
• Emotional, spiritual, and practical support
• Palliative care focusing on quality of life
• Child-focused, family-centered approach
• Interdisciplinary team care
• Frequent visits by certified therapy animals (dogs, horses, and a camel)
• Loving, home-like environment
• A sense of normalcy and order

Learn more about the George Mark staff.