Northwestern University Football Coach visits MHCH

Northwestern University Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald and 44 area student athletes visited  Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital on March 6 to offer encouragement to kids battling illnesses.

Coach Fitzgerald spent time visiting Mercy Health – Children’s as part of a visit coordinated through the Toledo Wistert Chapter of the National Football Foundation. Last year, the organization brought University of Michigan Football Coach Jim Harbarough to the hospital.

Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital opened our doors in 1998 and is now the leading healthcare resource for children and their families in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. The American College of Surgeons recently awarded Mercy Health – Children’s as a Level II trauma center for pediatrics.

The mission of the NFF is “to promote and develop the power of amateur football in developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the drive for academic excellence in America's young people.” Locally, the Toledo Wistert Chapter of the National Football Foundation chooses Scholar Athletes each year and honors them at an annual banquet.

This year’s class is comprised of 44 senior football players from the greater Toledo and Southeast Michigan areas. Players were chosen based on their grade point average, league award status and community involvement. The Scholar Athletes joined Coach Fitzgerald at Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital. The students also visited Mercy Health – Life Flight Network and the Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald reads to a young fan at Mercy Health - Children's Hospital