by Christina Echegaray
Children and families anticipating surgery or other procedures at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt now have a newly renovated area designed with therapeutic and diversionary activities to engage them as they wait.
The Joy in Childhood Foundation, a charitable foundation supported by Dunkin Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, along with the Starlight Foundation, named Children’s Hospital a Starlight Site in August. The sites aim to transform the hospital experience by providing bright, happy spaces for pediatric patients and their families.
Among the new activities in the surgery waiting area are a play corner, iPad bar, projection technology, wall-mounted activities, a fish tank, two bubble tubes and a phone charging station.
Children’s Hospital leadership celebrated the redesign recently along with representatives from the two foundations, which presented pediatric patients with special Starlight Brave gowns featuring fun and colorful art works that are inspired by the courage and bravery of pediatric patients everywhere.
“Every day our goal is to offer children the quality, comprehensive surgical care that they deserve and that our trained pediatric surgeons and care teams can provide. We strive to offer that care in an inviting and child- and family-friendly environment,” said John W. Brock III, MD, Surgeon-in-Chief, Director of the Division of Pediatric Urology and Monroe Carell Jr. Professor.
“We have a fabulous team of child life specialists, nurses, physicians and other staff whose entire mission is to make that child’s and the families’ experience as positive as possible, and we could not do that without community support.
“On behalf of our entire team, I want to thank the Joy in Childhood Foundation and the Starlight Foundation for aiding us in our mission to support the overall health and well-being of children.”
Children’s Hospital has 18 operating rooms, five specialty procedure rooms, which includes a cardiac catherization lab and two GI labs, and eight recovery bays. Children, youth and young adults are treated for a variety of injuries and conditions, from simple to very complex procedures, including organ transplants.