Jeanine Geiser took her son, Chase, to the hospital last June for what she thought was a cold. It turned out to be far more serious.

“They came into the room and told us that he had to have emergency brain surgery or we were going to lose him," Geiser said. "So he had his surgery and they cleaned out his infection and everything.”

After 30 days in the hospital, Chase is back home and doing what he loves. His family credits the care he received at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital as a huge reason why.

Hudson Valley families can now get a similar level of care closer to home, as the MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie expanded its pediatric services to 10 beds from five.

“We needed to expand it to serve the community, to serve the children and their families," said Dr. Michael Gewitz, the senior vice president of WMCHealth Clinical Operations. "And this was the right time. Right here, right now.”

Gewitz said the expansion will make pediatric services and follow-up visits more convenient for families, and make it seamless for kids that need to transfer to the Children’s Hospitals in Valhalla.

“We’ll still do the advanced care that requires serious, intensive care and similar treatments in Valhalla," Gewitz said. "But linked in to our unit here so that kids can get the initial treatment and follow-up care so much better, so much closer to home.”

Geiser is happy to have her son back and glad to have this new unit available so close to home. She says she knows as well as anyone just how critical the services are.

“If it weren’t for me having the instinct of going and having the professionals behind it, backing us and not having services ready, this would be a whole different story," Geiser said. "He wouldn’t be with us.”