At Rockcastle Regional Hospital’s Respiratory Care Center, miracles happen every day—especially for its youngest patients. The largest freestanding ventilator -care facility in the nation, the center has over time provided its transformative care to more and more smaller patients.

Among them was three-year-old Levi Wallen, who came to the facility in 2023 unable to breathe on his own due to pulmonary hypertension. After spending most of his life in hospitals, Levi found not only expert medical care at Rockcastle, but also emotional support and a sense of home. “It’s just really good care, especially on the engagement level,” said his father, Dalton, who drove more than an hour from Tennessee to visit almost daily.

Finally, in July of this year, Levi got to go home. “It’s a dream come true,” Dalton said. “I could not be happier.”

And Levi could not be more on the move. “He is all over the place,” his dad said. “He loves being home. He’s walking, climbing, and reaching for anything he can get a hold of.

“Rockcastle has been great,” he continued. “We love everyone there. They were all really good to him.”

Each child’s journey begins with a comprehensive evaluation by specialists, followed by a personalized, multi-disciplinary care plan. Children receive physical, occupational, and speech therapies. They attend an on-site classroom supported by Rockcastle County Schools. They engage in activities tailored to spark joy and developmental growth. For families who live far away, communication is constant, with Facetime check-ins and 24/7 access to nursing and social work staff.

Each year, the facility will treat and discharge eight to ten pediatrics patients, often returning to a home environment after successfully being weaned from the ventilator.

“That’s the goal,” said CEO Stephen A. Estes. “To get them healed and on their way to a life independent of ventilator care.”

For staff, discharges are bittersweet. It can be months and sometimes years in the making, but when that happens, there’s nothing sweeter, or in some ways, bittersweet, than the “goodbye ceremony” that takes place as the residents leave the facility to a new life of independence.

Facility team members line the hallway holding farewell signs, smiling, often fighting back tears. Then they say goodbye.