Astellas USA Foundation and Starlight Children’s Foundation Support the Life and Health of Kids and Families with Two State-of-the-art Healing Environments
Patients at Advocate Children’s Hospital – Park Ridge and The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center will enjoy a new teen lounge and kid-friendly dialysis unit
CHICAGO AND OKLAHOMA CITY, November 12, 2015 /3BL Media/ - Astellas USA Foundation and Starlight Children’s Foundation announced today the completion of two new, state-of-the-art healing environments that will support the health and wellness of thousands of pediatric patients and their families at The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City and Advocate Children’s Hospital – Park Ridge in the Chicago-area.
Starlight is a leading global charity that partners with experts to improve the life and health of kids and families around the world. Astellas USA Foundation provided a grant to Starlight for a project aimed to improve the comfort of pediatric patients through enhancements to the pediatric wings of Advocate Children’s Hospital – Park Ridge and The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center, which collectively accommodate more than 80,000 individual patient visits every year.
The renovated dialysis unit at The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center will provide a positive, kid-friendly healing environment for young patients and their families dealing with lengthy dialysis treatments and frequent hospital visits. The enhanced space includes a state-of-the-art wireless sound system so children can play their own music over Bluetooth in each room, iPad stands for hands-free entertainment, flat-screen televisions on the ceiling for patients who are recovering from surgery, an interactive floor with play bubble walls for therapeutic distraction and visual stimulation, new comfortable furniture for family members, and two Starlight Fun Center® mobile entertainment units.
“The Starlight Children’s Foundation and Astellas USA Foundation share a commitment to improving quality of life for patients and their families,” said Jeff Winton, president of Astellas USA Foundation. “We’re proud to play a supporting role in enhancing the healing experience for kids right in our backyard at Advocate Children’s Hospital.”
The funding from Astellas USA Foundation has made it possible for Advocate Children’s Hospital – Park Ridge to redesign, and significantly upgrade a 500-square-foot teen lounge, which sits adjacent to the adolescent medicine unit. The lounge has been enhanced to incorporate elements that appeal to teen sensibilities and interests, including a high-tech entertainment media system and modern furniture. The space will provide essential opportunities for normalizing experiences for teens, ranging from social interaction and play activities to sensory stimulation, inspirational resources and relaxation.
“We are so grateful for the generous support provided by our friends at Astellas USA Foundation and for our collaborative partnership with the exceptional staff at Advocate Children’s Hospital and The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center,” said Jacquie Hart, Starlight Global CEO. “This gift will make a meaningful difference in supporting the overall health and well-being of patients and families at these two Starlight partner facilities.”
“At The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center, our priority is our patients and providing them the highest quality care,” said Jon Hayes, CEO of The Children’s Hospital. “This means focusing on the healing of the whole child, and we’re grateful to Astellas USA Foundation and Starlight Children’s Foundation for embracing this goal with us by helping enhance and beautify the dialysis unit.”
“Advocate Children’s Hospital is thankful for this generous donation from Astellas USA Foundation and Starlight Children’s Foundation. On behalf of the teens and children we care for throughout the Chicagoland area, we want to thank you,” said Mike Farrell, President, Advocate Children’s Hospital. “At Advocate Children’s Hospital, we focus on making our care environments safe, sustainable and engaging. This generous gift allows us to enhance our teen lounge and provide technology and design elements important to teens and their families.”
A ribbon cutting ceremony and dedication event at Advocate Children’s Hospital – Park Ridge took place on November 12, 2015.
About Astellas USA Foundation
Astellas USA Foundation is a nonprofit corporate foundation that awards grants to support charitable, scientific, literary and educational purposes. Learn more at www.astellasusafoundation.org.
About Starlight Children’s Foundation
Starlight Children's Foundation is a leading global charity that partners with experts to improve the life and health of kids and families around the world. Starlight funds critical needs expressed by more than 600 hospitals, specialty clinics and camps, respite houses and hospices in the United States and Puerto Rico that collectively support more than 27 million pediatric visits every year. Starlight supports kids and families in 11 countries and territories in a growing global network. Learn more at www.starlight.org, and follow Starlight on Facebook at /StarlightChildrensFoundation and on Twitter @StarlightOnline.
About The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center
The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center has 335 inpatient beds and is Oklahoma’s only freestanding comprehensive children's hospital. The Children’s Hospital’s pediatric staff have years of specialized pediatric training with education, research and technology to treat conditions ranging from cardiothoracic and oncology-related illnesses to neonatal specialty care and pediatric solid-organ transplants. The Children’s Hospital is home to the state’s only children’s emergency department as well as an 88-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit providing the highest level of neonatal care in Oklahoma. Children’s was also one of the first hospitals in the country to provide total, comprehensive care for mothers and their newborns all in the same building. Additionally, the Children’s Heart Center is Oklahoma’s only comprehensive resource for the treatment of congenital defects and other heart ailments in children, led by the state’s experts in pediatric cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery. The Children’s Hospital is nationally ranked in urology by “U.S. News and World Report” in its most recent survey. To find out more, visit www.oumedicine.com/childrens or www.facebook.com/okchildrens.
About Advocate Children’s Hospital – Park Ridge
As part of Advocate Health Care, Advocate Children’s Hospital is the largest network provider of pediatric services in Illinois and among the top 10 in the nation. The two main campuses are located in the Chicago metropolitan region – Oak Lawn in the southwest and Park Ridge in the northwest, with additional services accessible at other Advocate hospitals throughout the state. Advocate Children’s Hospital serves as a major referral center for infants and children. Through a special, holistic approach, Advocate Children’s Hospital combines some of the country’s most respected medical talent with exceptional and compassionate care. In fact, the children’s hospital has been recognized by “U.S. News & World Report” as one of the nation’s leaders in pediatric cardiology and neonatology, and numerous physicians have been cited as being among the “Top Doctors” regionally and nationally in their respective fields. Advocate Children’s Hospital is staffed by more than 400 pediatricians and 230 pediatric subspecialists who offer a wide range of services for children.
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Media Contacts:
Tarsis Lopez
224-205-8833
Astellas US
Siobhan Dingwall
855-438-3553
Starlight Children’s Foundation
Dawn O’Polka
dawn.opolka@advocatehealth.com
630-929-6615
Advocate Children’s Hospital
Vallery Brown
vallery.brown@hcahealthcare.com
The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center
405-271-7900
