A ‘home’ for the families of children in the paediatric ward at Niguarda Hospital

The number of facilities run by Casa Ronald McDonald Italia Ets within Niguarda Hospital in Milan is growing. On Thursday, a new 600-square-metre area was opened in the paediatric ward, comprising seven rooms with two or three beds, bathrooms and twice the amount of communal space, including areas for meal preparation, a lounge, a space for remote working, and a quiet room to provide accommodation for the relatives of young inpatients. This project has been made possible by a collaboration – the agreement runs for twenty years – between the hospital and Casa Ronald McDonald, as well as institutions, businesses, donors and volunteers. The project represents the evolution of the Ronald McDonald Family Room, which has been operating at the hospital since 2020; which has, amongst others, accommodated the family of a young person injured in the Crans-Montana fire, and significantly expands the support available to the families of paediatric patients, increasing the facility’s accommodation capacity and services. This project strengthens the collaboration between the Ronald McDonald House and Niguarda Hospital and embodies a model of care known as ‘Family-Centred Care’, designed to integrate the child’s treatment journey with practical support for their entire family.

“The excellence of Lombardy’s healthcare system is not measured solely by the quality of care and the ability of our professionals to tackle even the most complex cases. It is also measured by our ability to care for the whole person and to support their family, especially when a long and difficult hospital stay means they have to live away from home for weeks or months,” said Attilio Fontana, President of the Lombardy Region, speaking at the opening ceremony at Niguarda Hospital in Milan.

All the rooms have been designed with the daily lives of the people who will be staying there in mind: from the need to rest to that of preparing a meal, carrying on with work, sharing moments with other guests or, conversely, finding a quiet space for reflection. The aim is to offer families a functional and welcoming place to stay during periods of hospital treatment which, particularly in the most complex clinical cases, can be prolonged. It tackles the issue of accommodation for the families of young children undergoing treatment: once they arrive in Milan from other regions, they have to find a hotel, the prices of which are often prohibitive, whilst the phenomenon of paediatric healthcare mobility means that many people are forced to temporarily relocate to the place where their child is being treated. The Ronald McDonald House alleviates the logistical and financial difficulties associated with staying away from home and enables parents to remain actively involved in their child’s care throughout the treatment process. This principle is consistent with the Family-Centred Care model, which recognises the family’s role within the care process and which the Foundation promotes through its programmes.

‘Ronald McDonald House,’ explains Alberto Zoli, General Manager of Niguarda Hospital in Milan, ‘has been working with us for some time, and now an even larger Ronald McDonald House is being opened, effectively doubling the space that was previously available. Our hospital provides medical care, but Ronald McDonald House offers tremendous support with everything surrounding that care: sleeping, eating, spaces to carry on working, but also simply taking a breather from the ward, without straying too far from your child. The collaboration between Niguarda and the Ronald McDonald House has a single aim: to make our patients and their families feel at home. So, from today, this House is open and is even bigger and more welcoming. This means that even more families will be able to rely on our hospital to look after their child, and none of them will have to face this journey alone. They will, in practical terms, be able to feel at least a little bit at home.”

The Ronald McDonald Family Room, which opened in Niguarda at the end of 2020, had already recorded 1,709 visits from parents, relatives, brothers and sisters of children undergoing treatment by the time the foundation stone of the new facility was laid in January 2025. In total, since it opened, the large Ronald McDonald House in Niguarda has hosted around 3,000 families. On 30 January 2025, the official start of construction marked the transition from the Family Room to the project for a fully-fledged Ronald McDonald House. Today, that journey is completed with the opening of a facility which, thanks to its seven rooms, will also be able to accommodate families who need to stay at the hospital for extended periods.