Special Care: The Reichert Family

Just days before Bill and Sara Reichert wel­comed their first child, Hope, they received news they didn’t expect.

“We knew three days before Hope was born that her brain had major mal­for­ma­tions. When my water broke, we were sent to St. John’s in Spring­field,” Sara said.

When Hope was one-day-old, an MRI revealed she had ageni­sis of the cor­pus cal­lo­sum. The cor­pus cal­lo­sum is a part of the brain. Its nerve fibers con­nect the two sides (cere­bral hemi­spheres) of the brain. Age­n­e­sis of the cor­pus cal­lo­sum is a birth defect that hap­pens when this struc­ture does not devel­op properly.

Sara knew Hope would need a pedi­a­tri­cian she could trust and she found that in Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG) Pedi­a­tri­cian Dr. Lar­ry Minnick.

“St. John’s was adamant we must have a pedi­a­tri­cian at home will­ing to accept Hope and every­thing that would entail. A fam­i­ly friend spoke high­ly of Dr. Min­nick, so I made the call from the hos­pi­tal in Spring­field,” Sara shared. ​“I talked to Nurse Mar­cia and let her know every­thing we knew and asked if Dr. Min­nick would take Hope. She relayed all to Dr. Min­nick and the rest is history.”

Hope’s con­di­tion comes with a lot of extra care and sup­port from her fam­i­ly and Dr. Minnick.

“Car­ing for Hope hasn’t been easy, but Dr. Min­nick and staff have been there every step of the way. She has been admit­ted count­less times, and Dr. Min­nick is always there for her and for us,” Sara said.

She shared that Dr. Min­nick has gone above and beyond, even com­ing to see Hope in the hos­pi­tal and arrang­ing her trans­porta­tion to St. Louis Children’s Hos­pi­tal when need­ed. Beyond Dr. Min­nick, Sara said the QMG pedi­atrics team has also been there.

“Nurse Car­la Schin­der­ling is our life­line and coach when we have ques­tions. She was instru­men­tal in Hope’s care dur­ing inpa­tient stays and now still keeps tabs on us as a QMG nurse. We are so grate­ful for her and nurs­es Mar­cia Frericks and Eri­ca Fitzgerald.”

The Reicherts also have a son, Evan, age 9, who is cared for by Dr. Min­nick too.

“I had to be induced five weeks ear­ly with Evan, and Dr. Min­nick was there in the deliv­ery room ready to care for Evan and what­ev­er he need­ed. I knew Dr. Min­nick was con­cerned about the out­come know­ing what we already face with Hope and her care. He knows our fam­i­ly and cares for us,” Sara said.

The Reichert fam­i­ly feels grate­ful that they were led to Dr. Min­nick over a decade ago.

“Dr. Min­nick has been our guy from the begin­ning. He talks to Evan and sees Hope for who she real­ly is. We couldn’t be us with­out the care we receive from Dr. Minnick.”

To learn more about QMG Pedi­atrics, vis­it https://​quin​cymed​group​.com/​m​e​d​i​c​a​l​-​s​e​r​v​i​c​e​s​/​p​e​d​i​a​t​rics/.