(I totally loved doing this interview and also the one-on-one tour with Kristen Carroll of Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital.)
Seasoned entertainers who leave a memorable impact earn stars on a Walk of Fame. Superstar athletes get inducted into a Hall of Fame for contributions to their respective sports.
Pat Chambers, who volunteers every Tuesday and Friday morning from 9 a.m.-noon at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital, recently received her own special tribute following her 90th birthday.
Having exceeded 18 years of volunteering at the hospital, the long-time Creve Coeur resident was honored with her own “Pat’s Miracle Corner” in the welcoming area of Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital in Maryland Heights.
Why that specific label? Ranken Jordan Leadership Gift Officer, Kristen Carroll offered the explanation.
“My colleague, Nellie LaVigne, who also loves Pat, originally floated the idea to do something special to honor her when we learned Pat had asked for donations to be made to Ranken Jordan in lieu of gifts for her 90th birthday,” Carroll said. “I brought it up to Pat's daughter Kristin. She spoke with the rest of Pat's children about the idea. They loved it. We decided on Pat's Miracle Corner together because of the phrase Pat always uses at Ranken Jordan: ‘Every time I come through those doors, I know I'm going to see a miracle.’”
Pat's four children were onboard from the moment they were told about the idea - so much so that they offered to match the donations from Pat's other friends and family with their own, raising over $10,000 for the hospital.
“Life is a struggle sometimes, certainly for some of these kids and their parents,” Chambers said. “But there is always hope. I have my miracle corner, and in 18 years, I’ve seen so many miracles! It’s amazing. Sometimes it’s tiny steps, and sometimes huge steps. You want to be able to be stimulated in life and to stimulate others.”
Born an only child in Savannah, Missouri, that attitude is what inspired Chambers to enter the field of early childhood education.
“My name is Pat, P.A.T. and I was with an organization that is now nationwide and in eight foreign countries called Parents as Teachers,” Chambers said. “I became the coordinator of a local school district called Pattonville! Have you got that down pat now?”
From her experience on the job, Chambers noted many parents needed their parenting skills bolstered. As their first teacher, she would go into homes, sit on the floor and work with parents.
After retiring from Pattonville, Chambers traveled to nearly every state in the U.S. with the Parents as Teachers Association. She helped parents with several aspects of the development of their children. In addition to her background of working with parents and children, Chambers has four children of her own, plus 15 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Fast forward to 2006, and Chambers’ volunteer start at Ranken Jordan, which is a 60-bed pediatric bridge hospital that cares for kids from birth to age 21, who are well enough to leave a traditional hospital but need help before they go home.
“I knew I still wanted to work with children, and this is in my local area,” Chambers said. “When I started there, it was a place for me to be in the nursery. I got to rock those babies, talk to those babies, and sing to those babies because we know this is critical.”
“Then I was promoted,” Chambers added, laughing. “Same salary – volunteer – to the therapy department. I got in the pool with the kiddos, and when they were having a sad day, they always laughed at the old lady in the bathing suit. Then I had an amputation of my leg in 2012 after a bout with cancer.”
Even after losing a leg, Chambers kept volunteering at the hospital; she became a greeter. She said that everybody needs a friendly greeting, whether they’re a vendor, a patient or a patient’s loved ones.
Throughout her years, Chambers said she has witnessed dozens upon dozens of miracles.
“I see a little guy in a wheelchair who has a (tracheotomy) and a feeding tube and with no verbalization,” Chambers said of an encounter from October 2023. “But he came over one day, rode his wheelchair my way and asked, ‘What happened to your leg?’ I knew that his brain had come awake, and that little guy walked out of here a month later and it was publicized because it was a miracle. He was an eight-year-old automobile accident victim.”
Another time, Chambers met a grandmother whose 16-year-old granddaughter had a stroke. Once, after they had visited many times, Chambers asked her if the trach was permanent. The grandmother said, “Pat, there’s always hope.”
“What a lesson that was because some parents are faced with so many challenges,” Chambers said. “I try to tell the parents that they receive the best medical care possible at Ranken Jordan. People don’t realize how important everyone here is to these little ones. Sometimes it’s the small things like a ‘hello’ or a smile. But we need them to communicate and be active in helping others. We all look out for each other and our patients.”
The hospital does more than just greet patients with a friendly face. Activities and special events help make children’s experience at the hospital better. One such activity is a Teddy Bear Clinic, where kids pretend to be doctors for teddy bear patients so the children get more comfortable with medical procedures.
“There’s another activity here I think is wonderful,” Chambers said. “It’s Paint the Docs. The doctors dress up in aprons and so forth, and children fill their hypodermic needles with paint, then they paint the doctors. There’s always activities here to stimulate.”
Ranken Jordan is chock full of several play areas on both floors, in addition to an outdoor area with gardens and even more play facilities. There are tunnels and swings that are wheelchair accessible, plus a ballfield and a golf course.
Chambers’ birthday celebration was packed. A full busload of friends from Brookdale Senior Living, where Chambers lives, was brought over, along with Brookdale staff members.
“They had booked the room for 60 people, but there were 20 more,” Chambers said. “So, we had 80 people here to celebrate this fundraising, my birthday, and my service. There’s nobody at the senior living place I’m involved with who doesn’t know about Ranken now. I’ve sold greeting cards that the kids here have made, and I try to publicize it everywhere I can.”
Carroll said Chambers is the best marketer the hospital could ever ask for.
“Pat’s heart and giving spirit to these families is just incredible,” Carroll said.” She does a fantastic job here, and she’s like our ambassador to the community.”
Relentless positivity is another area in which Chambers excels.
“There’s a saying – ‘Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present,’” Chambers said. “My thoughts are always, ‘I’m going to make the best of this day, and tomorrow may be even better!’ And I try to live that. You have to think this is a perfect day and I’m going to make the best of it. I was recently diagnosed with inoperable cancer, and each day is such a blessing.
“I’m not going to worry about yesterday, and I hope tomorrow’s an even better day than today.”
It doesn’t pay to be negative, Chambers said, and she wants to always look on the bright side and consider all the blessings that are easy to overlook.
“When new parents come in, I now say, ‘I have a corner. See that little sign up there? It says Pat’s Miracle Corner, and I’m Pat. I get to see miracles and I hope your child is one of those miracles. Maybe it will be a little one; maybe it will be a giant one,’” Chambers said. “‘So, will you be my miracle?’”
Ranken Jordan’s annual Beyond Gala is coming soon on Sept. 21, hosted at the Ritz Carlton. For more information, email kristen.carroll@rankenjordan.org.
