Phila. hospital waives costs for Amish girls
Children’s Hospital latest to absorb fees for treating Amish girls injured in shooting.
local.lancasteronline.com
By Janet Kelley
Lancaster New Era
Published: Oct 12, 2006 9:11 AM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - The Philadelphia hospital caring for three Amish children injured in last week’s shooting is the latest organization to waive their mounting medical costs.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia announced Tuesday that it — like Lancaster General, Christiana Care Health System, Reading Hospital and Medical Center — would absorb the costs of treating the surviving children who were shot last week.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations are continuing to pour in from around the world to help the families with the costs.
Five girls were killed in the shooting spree inside the Amish schoolhouse in Bart Township and five others were seriously wounded before the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, of Bart, killed himself.
Three of the girls were taken to Children’s Hospital, while two more remain at Hershey Medical Center.
Hershey Medical Center has declined to say publicly how it plans to handle the children’s expenses.
According to family friends, two of the girls, ages 8 and 12, are in critical condition at Children’s Hospital, and two others, ages 10 and 13, are in serious condition. One is at Hershey, the other is in Philadelphia.
A fifth girl, who is 6, is considered in grave condition at Hershey.
The Amish do not carry commercial insurance and would not ask for money, just as they do not receive government funds such as Medicaid or Medicare.
But with so many injured and so many people wanting to help, Amish leaders agreed to accept donations, forming a nine-member Nickel Mines Accountability Committee to distribute and manage the money.
One of the first things the Amish leaders decided was that a portion of the money be given to the shooter’s widow and three small children.
Herman Bontrager, a spokesman for the accountability group, released a statement on Tuesday thanking the public for the outpouring of support and financial donations (to read the complete text of the letter, see page A-10).
“Thank you for your generous kindness and for walking with us in this ‘valley of death,’ ’’ he wrote. “We wish we could thank each of you personally.’’
Mennonite Central Committee, the Mennonite Disaster Service and the Anabaptist Foundation, Nickel Mines School Victims Fund, have collected about $300,000 to date.
Combined with a $500,000 donation from Capital BlueCross, the total is topping $800,000, not including several banks, stores and churches also accepting donations which will be used for medical, rehabilitation, long-term care, transportation and counseling costs for the families.
This morning, Ron Gunther, of the Mennonite Disaster Service, said the donations have been coming in steadily, amounting to $189,000, both through credit card donations and through regular mail.
On Tuesday, after the holiday, Gunther said, “the mail just exploded,’’ with donations, along with cards and notes of sympathy and support.
Gunther said the mail has come in from “all over the lower 48 states,’’ online donations have come from as far as Japan and Israel.
Brad Fair, of the Mennonite Central Committee, said they have received $111,500 as of last night, but they are still receiving calls asking for an address to send donations.
All the personal notes and cards, Gunther said, will be turned over to the Bart Township Fire Company, which is collecting such expressions of sympathy to distribute to the families.
On a different note, state police said Tuesday that someone vandalized Roberts’ grave in the Georgetown United Methodist Cemetery in Bart Township.
Roberts was buried on Saturday. Marian Fisher, 13, was buried Friday, and the other girls — Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12, Naomi Rose Ebersol, 7, Mary Liz Miller, 8, and her sister, Lena Z. Miller, 7, were buried on Thursday.
Trooper David Fedorshak wrote in a news release that vandals “trashed’’ the Roberts gravesite by kicking dirt around and throwing the flowers off the grave and “scattering them all around the gravesite.’’
Members of the Bart Township Fire Company have been taking flowers and teddy bears, left as a memorial for the five girls, to the temporary Amish school site, as well as sharing them with the Roberts’ family. |
