Horst Rechelbacher, Kiran Stordalen Give To Children’s Hospital

Horst Rechelbacher, the late cosmetics entrepreneur and founder of Aveda Corp. and Intelligent Nutrients, and his wife and business partner Kiran Stordalen, have given $1.5 million to expand Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota's Pain, Palliative and Integrative Medicine program into a new one-of-a-kind center. It is the largest gift the couple has ever given to a non-profit organization, conceived long before Horst's death from pancreatic cancer in February.

Children's will name the clinic the Kiran Stordalen and Horst Rechelbacher Pediatric Pain, Palliative and Integrative Medicine Clinic in recognition of this lead gift.

Aside from his pioneering work in organic beauty products, Rechelbacher's legacy is that of a pioneer in integrative, non-pharmaceutical therapies, such as aromatherapy.

Already one of the largest of its kind in the country, Children's program helps manage pediatric patients' pain by combining pharmacological therapies with integrative medicine such as aromatherapy and massage. The gift from will allow Children's to further advance care by moving to a new 10,000-square-foot space which will serve as the home to a world-class, multi-disciplinary team of pediatric pain experts. The clinic will also expand to enable more children to have access to alternative treatments. The team currently treats about 800 children a year, and has a long waiting list. With the new clinic, Children's will now have the space and staffing to see more than 200 additional patients a year.

“The new facility will be emblematic of our life's work,” said Stordalen. “Recognizing the psychological and physiological benefits of integrative medicine and being attentive to a patient's holistic needs provides powerful opportunities to deliver better care, and that's really what we're trying to do through our gift.” 

Children's data and years of 24/7 bedside experience shows that pain management can and must be extended to every area of care to relieve or prevent suffering. Pain management helps patients heal faster, maintain better long-term health and avoid the debilitating effects of pain.

“Children's approach to care aligns with the vision Horst and I have used in our own lives, which is to integrate ideas which benefit people,” added Stordalen. “We wanted to help Children's create an environment that helps children heal so they can grow into happy and healthy adults.”