$10 Million Pledge for the Pediatric Cancer Pavilion

In the spring of 2004, the students of Penn State Dance Marathon pledged $10 million over the next six years to create the Pediatric Cancer Pavilion in Penn State Children’s Hospital. After making a $5 million pledge to the Four Diamonds Center for Pediatric Cancer Research, the students wanted to create another transformational gift by funding the Pediatric Cancer Pavilion at Penn State Children’s Hospital. Currently, pediatric cancer treatment is spaced out across the Penn State Hershey campus, causing problems for the kids, families, and doctors of The Four Diamonds. This gift will enable the health-care providers to give complete cancer care ­ in and outpatient procedures ­ all in one area. “I think of the Pavilion as revolutionizing family-centered care at Hershey,” says 2005 Overall Chairperson Seth Moser. “We’re putting all treatments in one place and creating the right facilities for these kinds of treatments. This means the treatments will be better and the support network that the kids need will be stronger." The free-standing Penn State Children’s Hospital, where the Pediatric Cancer Pavilion will be located, will be on the Penn State Hershey Medical Center Campus. The building will be connected to the Penn State Cancer Institute and the main hospital by walkways. Though there hasn’t been a time frame established for when the Pediatric Cancer Pavilion will be established, the hope is for it to be completed in five years.