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Amenities | Requirements | Cost | Transportation | Construction
Ronald McDonald House in Palo Alto was built in 1979. The House has since been expanded to include a total of 47 guestrooms with private
baths. The House features two specialized (or isolated) "Immune Wings": The Garden Immune Wing with six rooms
for children after they have received bone-marrow transplants; and the Maya Immune Wing with eight suites, including kitchen, living/dining, bedroom and bath
for young heart and lung transplant recipients.
To underscore its home-away-from-home environment, the House has a communal kitchen as well
as a common dining room, living rooms, and laundry areas.
Personal refrigerators and food lockers are available for each family
to keep their food in. The House's Pantry Program keeps certain
nonperishable, staple food items, as well as milk, in stock to help
supplement the families if they can't get to the grocery store.
Breakfast pastries are donated daily by Starbucks. Several times per week, restaurants or volunteer groups prepare or
deliver supper for the families.
Amenities
The rooms vary in size to reflect the number of family members staying at the House. All rooms contain
appropriate bedding and towels, plus a lamp.
Requirements
There are four requirements to be eligible for a room at the House:
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The child/patient must be receiving treatment at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH) or Stanford Hospital and Clinics.
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The child/patient must be 18 years or younger, though children who have stayed at the House prior to their 18th birthday are able to use our facilities until they reach age 21.
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The family must live at least 50 miles away from the House. The distance requirement can be modified under certain conditions.
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A pregnant woman who needs to be near LPCH because her baby will need urgent surgery at birth may also stay at the House.
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To request a room, Social Workers must initiate the first referral, or previous guests may self refer; call the House directly at
(650) 470-6000 to be placed on the wait list. Please note that, regardless of the method used, the House is
unable to confirm accommodations until shortly before arrival.
Cost
The House requests a donation of $10 per night if the family is the direct payer, but no family is ever denied a room based
on inability to pay. Insurance companies are billed $40.00 per night.
Families are welcome to stay as long as necessary. The House has had families stay anywhere from one night
to as long as 30 months.
Transportation
There are stores and amenities, notably those at the Stanford Shopping Center, within walking distance of
the House. The Hospital provides routine shuttle service between the House and the Hospital. Additionally,
the House has two vans to provide transportation to neighborhood grocery stores and various activities for
the children staying at the House. There is also public transportation available near both the House and
the Hospital.
Construction
In 2001 more than 500 families were turned away. Additionally, the Hospital is treating more and more seriously ill
children, many of whom require longer stays in the area. Accordingly, the House underwent significant construction
beginning in June 2002. The expansion has been completed and the House reopened as of December 22, 2003.
The project created 23 new rooms for a total of 47 rooms, including a six-room immune wing, and eight small suites
for immune suppressed little ones. There are many new and/or enhanced areas including a "Great Room," teen and
children's recreation areas, a large kitchen and dining room, more refrigerators and storage facilities, a
computer room, library — all designed to enhance the home-like and kid-friendly atmosphere of the House.
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