28 Catching up with...(continued) Trude Haecker 2015 Health Leader Dr. Trude Haecker is medical director of Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia and medical director of Global Patient Services at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In the past four years, Dr. Trude Haecker has seen a lot of growth in her program, which provides books to children during doctors’ visits. The program—called Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia—has handed out nearly 800,000 books. Children ages 6 months through 5 years received 393,000 brand-new books; children of all ages received another 400,000 gently used books. Dr. Haecker says the program is giving out twice as many books a year as it did in 2015. Children age 5 and younger receive one each time they go to a doctor or nurse practitioner for a regular checkup. According to studies on early childhood devel- opment, she says, “if you are being read to as a baby, toddler, or preschooler, you will do better at learning how to talk and read.” The program has recently joined forces with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and the Mayor’s Office to give a brand-new book to every baby born in Philadelphia before the newborn leaves the hospital. The program is also working with libraries and doctors’ offices to encourage families to get library cards for every child. Dr. Haecker visits doctors’ offices that are part of the Reach Out and Read program in the Philadelphia area. There are now 85. She helps train the doctors and nurse practitio- ners, explaining why it is important to remember to give books out at the start of the checkup. For instance, a book can open up a conversation so the doctor can see how the child is developing or how a parent and child interact. “I love what I do,” she says. “My goal is pretty big: For every child in the state of Pennsylvania to receive a new book at every checkup from birth to age 5.” —By Fit Fin staff James Dobson Elementary School