(bright music) - Will you consider this?

This young lady?

I mean, she looks like a kid, and I can say that because I'm not, but she is so accomplished, you just wouldn't believe.

This is Meg Zakrzewski and, I'll have her spell it for you, she is the President of the Children's Hospital of Illinois right here in Central Illinois.

And thank you for being here.

And thank you for making your home Peoria.

- [Meg] Yeah.

- And everything that you're doing.

So Meg, so I just said, you look like a kid, but boy, are you accomplished.

You've done so many things in a short period of time.

So tell me a little bit about yourself first.

You're from Indiana?

- Yes.

Happy to.

Yes.

Born and raised in Indiana.

Grew up in Valparaiso, and had a wonderful childhood there.

Very Midwest, just like Peoria.

That's why it feels so much like home.

And then started really my healthcare career when I was a senior in high school and started working at my local hospital as a certified nursing assistant.

- Really?

- Mm-hm.

- So, did you play doctor when you were younger?

A nurse?

- I did.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

I received my first medical kit, the Fisher Price one, if you guys remember that- - Okay.

I do.

- When I was three years old.

- Really?

- Mm-hm.

- So you showed an interest that early?

- [Meg] I did.

Yep.

- Well, how fun that you were able to pursue it then in high school.

- Yes.

- And from there you went where and started all these degrees you had?

- Mm-hm, yep.

I was an associate degree nurse first and I went immediately and started working at Riley in Indianapolis in the ICU.

- [Catherine] And that's Riley's Children's?

- Yes, Riley Children's Hospital, which was a wonderful career.

And then I became a pediatric nurse practitioner and kept on with my career at Riley.

And then was recruited to South Florida at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.

And was a part of the cardiac transplant and ventricular assist device team for children.

- Wow.

Wow.

- So that is- - So you had had some training in that already at Riley?

- I did.

Yes.

'Cause I took care of the very sick kids in the ICU at Riley, so.

Practiced as a nurse practitioner at Joe DiMaggio, which was wonderful for a long time.

And then was asked to help lead the program at Dell Children's in Austin, Texas, for transplant and ventricular assist devices.

And ventricular assist devices are called VADs, and they help hearts beat.

So machine that helps the heartbeat when the kid's too sick for their heart to beat on their own, and they're waiting for a transplant.

- [Catherine] Okay.

- And then was brought back to Indiana to lead Peyton Manning Children's Hospital until I found home here at OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital of Illinois.

- And that was about two years ago.

- [Meg] It was, yeah.

It goes by fast.

- It really does.

Well, you know, how did you have time to have a family in those moves and everything that you were doing, the hours you were putting in?

- Yeah, with an amazing support system.

So I have absolutely amazing parents that always are everywhere where we are and just truly support what we do professionally, what I do professionally.

The growth of my children.

And are a huge advocates for children's healthcare as well.

They really believe in the mission of children's healthcare and contribute to the good that I've been able to be a part of as well.

- You're just busy with the kids and the hospital.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- All right.

Okay, so let's talk about, so you came to the Children's Hospital, it's very different because it's a hospital within a hospital, within the OSF system, and you just have these bright ideas that kind of click and work.

Did you bring some of those ideas with you?

- I did, yes.

I had the opportunity to be in so many amazing organizations and help lead.

So really, I was able to see what that looks like and what has worked elsewhere.

But what we do here is absolutely amazing, and it's really what drew me in.

We are the most innovative healthcare system that I have ever been a part of.

- [Catherine] And why is that?

How so?

- It's between Jump and the Mission Partners, the physicians and the executive leadership team that truly believe that innovation helps healthcare and helps us get to that next level.

- [Christine] It's the future.

- It is.

But there's belief and investment in that.

And it's unlike any other organization I've been a part of.

We're so amazing at what we do, and scaling that care to the next level through technology and innovation.

- So describe to me some of the new innovation that you have, you and your team have dreamed up.

(laughs) - Yes, yes.

So one of our physical therapists noted one of our cancer patients wasn't able to do gymnastics or cheerleading because she had a special IV in her chest called a port.

And it kept getting in the way of her being able to do the activities that she loved, so he created a special dome to go over it.

And there's videos of her on our social media account, of her doing flips and just loving life despite having this port in.

It's not slowing her down at all.

- So this was developed with some of the people at Jump to do that?

- It was developed with our innovation team and one of our amazing physical therapists.

- Okay.

Well, that's fun.

You also have something on Tuesdays?

- [Meg] We do.

- So, and let's say it the right way, tutus and- - Temporary.

- Temporary Tattoos Tuesdays.

- Yeah.

- All right.

So tell me about that.

- Yes, so really just driving home joy and that childlike environment in the hospital for the staff and the kids alike.

So the staff are invited to, and the kids as well, to wear tutu's on Tutu Tuesday, which is the second Tuesday of every month.

And then also participate in wearing some temporary tattoos, which is a lot of fun.

We typically tie in a theme for the month as well.

So if it's dinosaur day, we will go around and we will pass out stuffed animal dinosaurs to the children on the unit.

For Valentine's Day, the Peoria Ballet joined us, and they were in red tutus.

And then they helped us to pass out toys on the unit as well.

- So you just kind of come up with a different theme every month.

- Yes.

Well, there are national themes for children as well, so.

- I know April is the Month of The Young Child.

- Yes.

- So what will you do for April?

I mean- - Yes.

- You'll come up with something.

- Yeah, absolutely.

We have a lot of themes coming up for April.

The tattoo and Tutu Tuesday, we'll do of course.

And I can't remember quite what our theme is for April, but there's a lot coming up.

- I'm sure there is.

Too many, you know, I've been trying to get you to be on this program for a year now, so the fact that you're here, I'm very, very thankful because you're just so busy.

There's just so much going on and expansion of ideas and of services.

So we have how many specialists, how many, yeah, specialties do we have for our kids right here in central Illinois.

- Yeah, so we have over 40 specialists that children can see right here in Peoria.

And we also have satellite clinics going out in the eastern, the western regions and down in Springfield so we can truly meet these kids and the families where they are.

We are a large children's hospital, the only Level 1 trauma center for children here in Peoria.

We have the only truly dedicated pediatric emergency department with specialty trained pediatric emergency physicians.

The highest level of NICU care for our tiniest babies with a small baby unit.

And we also have a Pediatric Specialty Care Center coming online in 2027.

So all of the care that's across the campus right now will be in one spot, just right on the same campus as the Children's Hospital.

- Right, which makes it so much easier for the parents of the kiddos who need to see a couple of different specialists per visit, right?

- Exactly.

So we're not going, we're not taking multiple days off of work or missing multiple days of school.

We could see everyone under one roof, have a one day visit and then go back home.

So that way, you know, it helps streamline that care.

- Now I know that there is a specialty area for children with Down syndrome.

- Yes.

- That you've just, that you've helped to develop.

So tell me about that.

- Yes, so our amazing team has a complex care multidisciplinary clinic and the Down syndrome clinic is a part of that.

So the children can come to one spot, one clinic spot, and all of their specialists that they need to take care of them come there.

So again, parents are not going everywhere, having to make multiple clinic visits.

The multidisciplinary team discusses the child and the care plan together.

And you have one team answer of what we need today and what we need to continue to stay healthy.

- And really, medicine needs to be that way where it is one central location.

- Absolutely.

- For information and for marching orders.

- Yeah, absolutely.

You know, we need to make healthcare easy and easily accessible for our families, and that's what we're doing at Children's Hospital of Illinois.

- You also now at Christmas time, Santa Bill comes to the hospital.

But you also have some other fun programs going on during the holidays again.

Tell me about that.

- We do, yeah.

So we're so honored with our foundation.

We do radiothon and the Holiday Express at the same time, which was a remarkable year this year where Santa was there.

We had the magic of Christmas with crafts and warm cocoa.

And children got to pick out gifts for themselves, but also their siblings.

We know that sometimes children stay in the hospital over the holidays so it's hard to get to the store to pick things out.

So families were able to come to our North Pole and pick out those special gifts to make the holidays that much more magical.

- And this was the second year for that?

This past year.

- It was the second year, yes.

So we're gonna do this annually.

- All right, and so you learned from the first year what to do better the second year and now it's just gonna kind of snowball, if you will.

- Absolutely.

- Good.

Good.

Good.

Good.

- Yes.

- And the kids are appreciative, the families are appreciative because, again, because some of them are hospitalized, like cystic fibrosis kids are in the hospital for weeks at a time.

- They absolutely were.

We had one mom that was there that has a child that has, three children that have special needs.

So she was extremely grateful and said she wasn't able to make it out to the store.

And Christmas was right around the corner and she was able to take care of finding those special gifts right there.

And she was very tearful when she shared that with us.

And that drove everything home.

That's our why.

Our families and our kids are our why for why we do everything that we do.

And we're so thankful to be able to do it.

- Well, and we have how many beds for kids at the Children's Hospital?

- We have 136 beds at Children's Hospital of Illinois and 12 beds at our Almost Home kids.

- Yeah, so tell me about some of the programming.

We've done some interviews with Almost Home Kids too.

But people don't really realize what AHK is.

- Yes.

Have absolutely the best team at Almost Home Kids, with Cindy and Brittany leading it.

It's a 12-bed hospital, a home, that feels just like a home.

If you haven't been in it, we have an open house, so please come check it out at our open house, which is typically at the end of summer.

And it feels truly like home.

Families can stay with their children and learn how to take care of maybe some of the medical devices that the kids have until they're ready to leave and go home to their true home.

- So they don't panic when the kids come home.

So these are kids with really special needs care.

- Yes.

- So they've got traches and they've got monitors- - They do.

- That are beeping all over the place.

But you have to make sure that their caregivers know what to do in any kind of a situation.

Something's beeping and you don't wanna panic at that time.

- Absolutely.

What to do with the beeps that are normal and what to do when it's an emergency situation.

And providing those tools so the parents can stay calm and they have that seamless skillset to make those quick changes in an emergency situation.

We also offer two weeks of respite care for every family, which we're so honored to be able to do.

And we will love your kids because they're ours.

So thank you for, you know, trusting us with your children and that respite care as well.

- So that respite care means that the families that they have a child who needs special care can be taken care of they can get a little bit of a rest, and they can go on vacation- - Absolutely.

- With their other kids because their lives always seem to focus on that one child who's got the special needs.

- Absolutely.

Absolutely.

So a little bit of a break where your kiddo will be, we will wrap our arms around that sweet child and, you know, make it just as much fun for them while they're with us at Almost Home Kids.

- Well, with your whole background and your hands-on, how is it not having your hands on every day?

(both laughing) - So I think that I have the best team that anyone could ask for.

My team is, you know, dynamic and smart and creative and innovative.

And we're supported by an absolutely phenomenal executive team.

I couldn't ask for just a better organization or team when I am hands off.

And I know that everything is always taken care of.

- Do you get to go in, oh, well, you go, you make rounds sometime.

You get to visit some of the kiddos.

- Every day at one o'clock we make executive rounds called Spark Rounds.

- All right.

Tell me about that.

- Yep, so we start on all of our units and make rounds with the team.

And we talk about patient safety because we are a high reliability safe organization.

And then we round on a couple of kiddos every day and their family members.

And it's great, we get to meet their stuffed animals or hear about their favorite pet or hear about their next vacation or talk about the chicken nuggets that they had.

- You know, and that's important to them.

That's where they are in their lives.

- [Meg] Yeah.

- Well, you also have other ideas that are coming up and being implemented.

And you can see, you can see the light bulbs go off in the kids eyes.

So what do you see coming up in the future, if anything?

Do you have something boiling in the background?

- Yes, we do.

So we will continue to expand our events and continue to be more engaged with the community with those events.

I have on my wishlist to have a Homecoming at Children's Hospital of Illinois for all of the children that weren't able to make it because maybe they were sick or maybe they're in the hospital.

So that will be the next on our master plan list.

And then continuing to integrate within our school systems as well so they have awareness of the amazing care that we offer, and how can we be great partners.

- Well, we have an in-house school at the- - [Meg] We do.

- Listen to me, I'm saying we.

Well, I've been on the board for a long time- - You have, yeah.

- So I'm kind of a we.

So in-house schools so that the kids who are hospitalized for any length of time can keep up with their schoolwork.

- We absolutely do.

So we have a couple of teachers, but also wraparound services with creative therapies, which is a huge part of the childcare.

And that's through Heller Center for Kids at Children's Hospital of Illinois, with music therapists.

Our creative therapy team also includes child life specialists, who are absolutely amazing.

And they can help children understand, developmentally, what's going on and get through some of those scary procedures too.

So we're really lucky.

- And that's one thing, I was just talking to someone recently whose child needed a tonsillectomy.

- [Meg] Yeah.

- And at the hospital, the kids get to do the tour.

So tell me about if they're going to have a procedure, tell me what the families and that child actually get to experience before that procedure.

- Yes, so they'll have a child life specialist or one of the nursing experts come and talk to them about what to expect.

And the physician team, of course.

So what that will look like when you come in, what you'll have to wear because we do have to change into a hospital gown for procedures.

- [Christine] And they're so attractive.

- I know.

(both laughing) - Well, at least they have like Disney princesses or something on them.

- Yeah, they're pretty cute.

There's some characters on them.

- Good.

Good, good, good.

- And then, you know, where they will go, what the bed will look like, how long the child will be away from mom and dad.

'Cause that is a period of time that they'll be away while they have that procedure.

When they'll be back in mom and dad's arms, and then how long have to stay in the hospital.

- And they usually get a stuffy too, don't they?

- [Meg] They do.

- They're special stuffy to go into surgery with them.

- Yeah, they do.

Yep, we have stuffed animals and every child gets a stuffed animal.

- Now, you mentioned the music program.

We had a presentation at a board meeting not too long ago.

That's very innovative.

And, I mean, you can see, if they're on any kind of monitors, you can see their pulse ox just soaring because music is just so wonderful.

It gets right down into their souls.

- Agree.

Music is so healing.

And if you think about when you are in a great mood and you listen to your favorite song and what that does for you.

Or when you're in bad mood and you listen to your bad mood song, what that does for you, right?

- I do, I don't know if I have a bad mood song, or, you know, maybe it brings back bad memory, I guess that must mean it.

- Yeah, so it does influence our emotions, and it relieves some of those scary feelings and the pain as well, so.

- And then there's, you're also paying attention to things that are going on outside the community that are impacting children like food deserts.

- Absolutely.

So we do, we have a program in our clinics where we screen for food insecurity and we're able to provide a food kit for families before they leave the hospital so that way they can go home and they can have a warm meal for the night.

- Okay.

So here you are back in the Midwest, you left warmth, although this year there hasn't been a whole lot of warmth in Florida or Texas, and you came back here to the great Midwest.

And there really is something called Midwest values.

And you're seeing that as the teamwork comes together.

- Yes, I agree.

I grew up in the Midwest, so being in the Midwest, it feels like home.

The kindness, our community, the outpouring of love and support, especially when we're doing things at the Children's Hospital.

Santa Bill who comes in to support every year, the ballet who comes in to support.

And just the overall generosity and love behind our children's hospital, we're so grateful for it.

- Yeah.

You also have something, it's in, is it in August or, the gold, the gold thing.

- Paint the Town Gold.

- Paint the Town Gold, yes.

Okay.

- Yes.

Yes.

So our Children's Hospital of Illinois Cancer and Blood Disorders Institute was signed into the Congressional record this last year as an official holiday for the Children's Hospital where we wear gold and stand in solidarity for children that have been impacted with a diagnosis of childhood cancer.

- And where did that idea generate?

Is that you?

- Yes.

(both laughing) - Okay.

That's good.

- Yes.

Yes.

- Thank you.

Yes, and my team.

There's an entire team that helps with creativity and planning events and implementing everything that we do.

- So no regrets coming to Peoria, Illinois?

- Love Peoria.

Highly recommend it to everyone.

I feel like I know, you know, the great restaurants and, you know, the great activities.

And I often tell our candidates that are coming in and evaluating jobs here, how amazing it is.

- And you have two children?

- Yes, I do.

- All right.

And they're pretty active in soccer.

I know that.

- Yes.

- Anything else?

- Active in soccer and gymnastics.

So athletics, and they love it.

- All right, and were you also, when did you have time before high school, before you started your nursing?

Were you involved in soccer and/or gymnastics or- - [Meg] Both.

- Really?

Okay - Yes.

- So that was just something, oh, Mom did that and so maybe we could try it too.

- Yep.

I did both.

- Good, good, good.

- Yeah.

Great sports.

- Yeah, they are.

So what do you look forward to most now?

And we're hoping that you stay here forever and ever and ever.

- Oh yes.

Yes.

- Okay.

- I signed a really long contract, so I'm here for forever.

- Okay.

(both laughing) Signed forever.

I like that.

So future plans, we're going to have the one-stop shop for pediatric specialty clinic.

- [Meg] Yes, we will.

- And then?

- Yes, so, and we're gonna continue to expand our community engagement with our programs such as homecoming, more integration into the schools.

We also have had a wonderful recruitment season, so our specialist bench depth has expanded extensively.

It seems like everyone that we talk to, they say yes to signing and coming and joining us in Peoria.

So we're really excited about that.

- And they see, and Jump, that we work with Jump.

One thing, so a friend's granddaughter helped come up with a an MRI little system.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

So with Jump, she worked with them, because she had had cancer and an MRI has all these noises and all this stuff and you go into a tube and, so she developed something to help kiddos understand what'll happen when they have an MRI.

- Yes, it's incredible.

And the team at Jump is amazing and highly engaged, and willing to have conversations about the ideas that come through from our patients or our Mission Partners.

And there's even a arm of it where they have kits that they send out to schools where the schools can dissect a shark.

- Ah.

- Uh-huh.

And learn about anatomy.

I know.

The opportunities are just endless with Jump and the Innovation Lab.

- And where else do we have anything like that in the country?

- I've been all over the country and I cannot find anything that compares.

Truly.

- Okay.

Wow.

Wow.

So you're pretty excited.

You signed the forever contract.

- [Meg] Yes.

- I like to hear that.

And family's happy to be here too.

And so Children's Hospital, I mean, can we add more beds?

Do we need to add more beds or are we pretty good for right now?

- Yeah, that's always a topic of conversation.

We certainly have a 10-year vision of expanding OSF HealthCare overall, and new beds are on that wishlist.

- So you get to make rounds at one o'clock in the afternoons.

When do you, when do you not have meetings?

When do you start during a day and when does your day end?

- (chuckles) So I start anywhere between 6:00 and 7:00 AM and then the day ends anywhere between 5:00 and 7:00 PM.

It just depends.

- All right.

So you're not missing many of your kids' activities?

- No.

Yeah.

- And that's important.

That shows what dedication you have to children.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- Well, I thank you very much for being here.

I want you to note, tell us what your maiden name was.

- Oh, sure.

Pay, like I'm gonna pay you money.

- (laughing) Yeah.

And she went from that to- - Zakrzewski, yeah.

- Zakrzewski, yeah.

Yeah, how long did it take you to learn how to spell that one?

- Not long.

- Okay.

- Yeah, it wasn't too bad.

- And the kids, they- - They do great.

- They got it down now.

- Yeah.

- And see, I'm kind of partial to it because when do you have two Z-A-K people in the same room?

At my house, it's when we have a family reunion.

How about you?

- Yep.

Same.

(both laughing) - So thanks so much, Meg, for finally being able to join us.

- Thank you.

- Yes.

- This was great.

- And thanks for everything you're doing for the Children's Hospital.

And you know what, if you need to find her at the Children's Hospital, look her up 'cause she'll listen.

- Absolutely.

- Okay.

Thanks for being with us.

I hope you've enjoyed hearing about Meg and everything that she's got cooking at the Children's Hospital of Illinois right here.

Until next time, be well.

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