Huge donation funds Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) program for patients at AdventHealth Ocala

Local women dealing with high-risk pregnancies will be able to receive specialized care for themselves and their babies through a new program at AdventHealth Ocala, thanks to a $1.7 million donation from Ocala residents Michael and Kathleen Smith.

The funds will go toward the McKenzie Kearney Gray Maternal Fetal Medicine program in honor of the late daughter of Kait and Ryan Gray, who passed away several days after she was born premature in May of 2018.

Following McKenzie’s birth, mother and child were separated at two different hospitals, one providing care for Kait and the other having a neonatal intensive care unit where little McKenzie received care.

Now that the funding has come in to start an MFM program right here in Ocala, that kind of separation should no longer happen, said Joe Johnson, CEO of AdventHealth Ocala.

“It’s a very substantial gift,” Johnson said. “We’re humbled by it and we’re very grateful.”

AdventHealth Ocala’s MFM program is expected to open later this year and will enhance the current obstetrics/gynecology and pediatric services already offered, said Johnson.

“Maternal Fetal Medicine care teams work with the obstetrician and help guide practices to achieve the best possible outcome for complicated pregnancies”, according to a hospital press release, and “identify risk factors such as the delivery of multiples, and other complicated risk factors such as maternal hypertension, diabetes, fetuses with birth defects and genetic issues.”

“This is something new for us,” Johnson said. “It’s a real safety feature for babies who maybe are not forming or are not healthy in the way they need to be pre-delivery. We want to provide the best care for our community. We want to do everything possible we can to give every child the best chance, not only to be born healthy, but to grow and develop to their potential.”

Additional funds are expected to come in from Golden Ocala annual golf tournament in April. Organized by golf pro Ryan Gray, last year’s tournament provided $100,000 in honor of McKenzie. The funds were used for a trained childlife specialist to work with young children coming into the hospital, Johnson said.

To Michael Smith, the decision to get involved financially came as a natural course of events. A board member of both AdventHealth’s hospital and the foundation, Smith also is good friends with Ryan Gray.

“We loved how Ryan and Kait shared their story with people and decided to get involved with that,” said Smith. “This was really about finding a way to honor McKenzie in a perpetual way. We love the Advent healing through ministry. It’s just the kind of perfect kismet fit for what we’re trying to do. We’ve donated money here and there, but it hasn’t been to this level.”

The MFM program will be overseen administratively by Dr. Rajan Wadhawan, senior executive officer for AdventHealth for women and Advent Health for children in Orlando.

Marion County women have been traveling long distances to get the kind of services that will now be provided at AdventHealth Ocala’s MFM program. This will help to bring such services to the local community, Wadhawan said.

A neonatologist, Wadhawan said the hospital will hire an obstetric specialist, diagnostic medical sonographers and an office staff.

“They’ll have specialized ultrasound machines that have the ability to look at things in more detail and are able to pick out subtle abnormalities,” he said. “A lot of women can benefit from seeing an MFM doctor. We already have a unit in Ocala that is staffed by neonatologists 24/7. If there is a program not managed by appropriate doctors there is a risk to the mother and to the baby, so this will help to mitigate those risks.”

AdventHealth Ocala is the only hospital in the area that delivers babies, noted Jenna Krager, executive director of the AdventHealth Ocala Foundation. The MFM program is badly needed here, she said.

“It’s important to us to have this higher level of care for moms who come in with complicated pregnancies,” Krager said. “That’s really what our purpose is in getting this program here. When we met with Mr. Smith we laid out our entire plan.”

“He’s been very involved with the hospital and what we’re trying to accomplish and it fit perfectly with his passion; we’re obviously over the moon to bring this level of care to the community,” she said.  “A lot of women have to be transferred out, but by having this care we could keep up to 1,000 of those complicated pregnancies every year.”

That’s good news to Kait Gray. She remembers with sadness how, despite her own physical weakness, she traveled from Ocala to Gainesville in order to hold her dying infant.

“I’d be happy to keep the mommies and babies together,” said Gray. “People are traveling and putting a lot of stress on themselves and their families. The moms now in this area will have a high-risk obstetrician who will work in tandem with their regular OB/GYN. It’s definitely going to help everyone.”