Washington Twp. boy heads to D.C. to advocate for childrens hospitals

Since he was 5-and-a-half months old, Colin Beach of Washington Twp., has battled a rare form of eye cancer.

But it was his treatment – not his disease –that was emphasized last week, as Colin, now 13 and an eighth grader at Watts Middle School in Centerville, canvassed Capitol Hill to expound upon the virtues of children’s hospitals, specifically Dayton Children’s, where he has received treatment for the majority of his life. He is blind in his left eye and has undergone repeated rounds of laser surgery and chemotherapy.

“He’s had a long road,” said his mother, Maureen Beach, who accompanied Colin to Washington. She said she stopped counting the surgeries he’s had when it hit 35.

The Beaches met with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton. They also met with staff members for House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana.

Maureen Beach, 50, a defense contractor, emphasized the importance of children’s hospitals to lawmakers, and the impact cuts to research might have on them.

Colin’s visit coincided with the Children’s Hospital Association release of a report that found that of the 32 million children who rely on Medicaid, about 6 percent have complex medical conditions and account for 45 percent of all Medicaid spending on children.

Dayton Children’s, Colin said, “is a great place. But like all the other hospitals, it needs as much help as it can get.”

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