When Reid DeSpiegelaere, chief development officer at Every Child Pediatrics, talks about his work’s mission, he points to the name of the nonprofit organization, Every Child Pediatrics.
“We see every child,” DeSpiegelaere said. “We’ve never turned a child away.”
That holds true regardless of a family’s ability to pay for medical services, from routine check-ups, vaccines and nutritional guidance to behavioral and mental health care. Every Child Pediatrics primarily sees kids who are uninsured or on Medicaid, offering a sliding scale for the cost of care comparable to each family’s income. (Kids with insurance are also welcome at its clinics.)
As the needs of this population have grown, so too has the organization. Founded in 1996 as a single clinic in Denver, it has since grown to 12 locations across the state. That includes eight on school campuses — where Every Child Pediatrics operates health centers — so that doctors and nurses can meet with kids where they’re already spending time.
DeSpiegelaere estimates more than 57,000 children regularly receive medical care from Every Child Pediatrics. That ranges from newborn support in hospital maternity wards to young adult services for those in their early 20s.
But DeSpiegelaere knows that support isn’t always needed solely in a doctor’s office, so the nonprofit employs what he calls “care navigators,” who work with families to help meet their other essential needs, whether that’s access to transportation or household supplies.
“We screen everybody for the need for services, and then we have full-time navigators at every clinic to make sure we can meet with families, we can call families, we can navigate their referrals,” DeSpiegelaere said. “Then we actually partner with agencies that provide free diapers or free strollers, and we physically go get those resources and deliver them to families.”
That was especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic when fewer patients traveled to medical offices. In 2020, Every Child Pediatrics quickly activated a telehealth program and rolled out an ambulance to use as a mobile office to reach kids in rural areas.
With the ongoing affordable housing crisis and the recent influx of migrants, DeSpiegelaere expects Every Child Pediatrics will continue to be a go-to health care provider.
“It’s unfortunate I think the need is growing, but also we are here to grow with that need,” he said. “There’s only one limitation on our ability to grow. That limitation is, do we have community and donor support to fuel that growth?”
Individuals who donate to Every Child Pediatrics can support the wide range of aforementioned services through its Care for Every Child Fund, as well as ancillary ones like school supply drives or individual clinics. The organization provides robust data reporting, so donors know their dollars go exactly where intended if there’s a specific facility to program they’d like to support, DeSpiegelaere said.
Every Child Pediatrics also offers volunteer opportunities and corporate partnerships that enable locals to support its mission.
“We are the largest safety net clinic for children in Colorado,” DeSpiegelaere said. “We have a place for everybody that wants to be part of our mission to come on and join us.”
Every Child Pediatrics
Address: 9197 Grant St., Suite 100, Thornton, 80229 (headquarters)
Number of employees: 130-150
Annual budget: $12 million
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