ALL ABOUT THE PROGRAM
We are an extension of
the medical team and the family.
Our coordinators fill a critical healthcare gap by streamlining care, communication, and access to resources — free of cost, personalized for every family.
HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS
Dedicated nurses and social workers — embedded as the one constant in a complex care journey.
Medically complex babies deserve to be home — and to thrive. But their complex medical needs often keep them in the hospital far longer than necessary. Each year, more than 350,000 infants go home with significant ongoing needs, and most face that transition without a dedicated coordinator by their side.
Without that support, readmissions rise, appointments are missed, and families are left to navigate an overwhelming system alone.
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TRANSITION HOME
IN THE NICU
OUTPATIENT SUPPORT
IN THE NICU
Coordinating complex care from day one
Coordinators serve as the central point of contact — managing multiple specialists, facilitating family care conferences, coordinating procedures, and removing every barrier between a baby and getting home sooner.
Enrollment prioritizes families with health literacy concerns, language barriers, and significant social needs — ensuring the program reaches those who need it most.
TRANSITION TO HOME
Preparing families before discharge
Coordinators set up the home, arrange medical supplies and equipment, connect families to community resources, and make sure parents feel prepared — not terrified — on the day they leave the hospital.
By identifying needs early and coordinating support before discharge, the program helps families transition home with confidence and stability.
OUTPATIENT SUPPORT
Staying by the
family's side
Support doesn't stop at discharge. Coordinators attend appointments, arrange transportation, stack procedures to minimize anesthesia events, and remain a trusted resource through the first years of life.
Families navigating complex medical needs receive ongoing guidance and support — helping them access care, services, and resources.
PROGRAM BENEFITS
What care coordination changes.
When a family has a dedicated coordinator, the difference is measurable — for the baby, and for everyone who loves them.
IMPACT ON BABIES
Reduces unnecessary and duplicative procedures
Reduces length of hospital stays
Reduces number of hospital admissions
Reduces Emergency Department visits
Reduces pain and enables more time at home
Accelerates development through critical therapies
IMPACT ON FAMILIES
Reduces emotional and physical stress
Reduces out-of-pocket healthcare expenses
Fewer misunderstandings about medical care
Fewer missed days from work
Reduces unnecessary travel to hospital
Improves discharge preparedness and home readiness
OUR PROGRAM OUTCOMES
1200+
Children served across
partner hospitals
86% VS 76%
2-year survival rate
10 points above historical average
0%
Lost to follow-up
in peer-reviewed study
5
Top-ranked Level IV
NICUs nationwide
Our Founding Story
In her first year of life, Livi spent over 150 days in the ICU spread over four visits that required three heart surgeries (two open heart), one intestine surgery, intensive vision and hearing tests, numerous sedations, and countless therapies. She spent 12 weeks on a breathing machine and 51 consecutive days without being held by her parents.
And she’s only just begun her journey.
Our Founding Story
Livi and children like her thrive at home.
To enable Livi to maximize her time at home, her parents coordinated doctor visits, in and out-patient therapies, medications, feedings, surgeries, and federal and state resources – all while maintaining full-time jobs, navigating the complex healthcare and insurance systems, and going through the most emotional time of their lives. Livi is thriving because her parents made care coordination of her medical needs a priority.
Our Founding Story
That’s why Little Heroes League was founded:
to enable infants born with a distinct disadvantage to thrive and live their best lives.
Little Heroes League, with our partners Lurie Children’s Hospital, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI, The University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, and Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI, has implement a first-in-the-country program to provide care coordination for infants with medical complexity and their families to address this critical need in the hospital, at home, and in the community.
Be a BIG Hero to a Little Hero.
Your gifts make it possible for babies with the greatest medical needs to receive exceptional care coordination — and their best chance to thrive.