Childbirth Choices & Prep Classes
(Class/Workshop) September 14th, 2010 (6:30 PM to 8:45 PM)
With CNY Doulas. 407 Tulip St, Liverpool. Pre-register. 455-6MOM.
View all calendar events
(Class/Workshop) September 14th, 2010 (6:30 PM to 8:45 PM)
With CNY Doulas. 407 Tulip St, Liverpool. Pre-register. 455-6MOM.
View all calendar events
Sandwich on a stick
Ingredients: Bread, cheese, diced ham, grape tomatoes, lettuce, pickle, olive. Directions: Cut up cubes of bread, cheese, and ham. Slide the cubes onto a skewer with other foods your child likes... More
Ingredients: Bread, cheese, diced ham, grape tomatoes, lettuce, pickle, olive. Directions: Cut up cubes of bread, cheese, and ham. Slide the cubes onto a skewer with other foods your child likes... More
Looking for something?
Onondaga County Libraries
Onondaga County Department of Health
To become a web sponsor, contact our ad staff at parent@cnylink.com
Onondaga County Department of Health
To become a web sponsor, contact our ad staff at parent@cnylink.com
The Syracuse Parent Features are cover stories pulled from our print edition. For ALL features, stories & more, pick up an issue of Syracuse Parent & CNY Family at one of our many locations.
Children's hospital set to open
Posted on Fri, August 28th, 2009
Written by: Ellen Leahy, City Eagle Editor
email: city@cnylink.com
We start as children, so in thinking healthcare and wellness, children are the most appropriate starting point. And, what is a child without their family? This is the basic premise behind the Golisano Children’s Hospital (GCH) at Upstate Medical Center, which is set to open Sept. 23.
“Family is integral to the care and healing of the child,” said Dr. David Smith President of Upstate.
Smith, a pediatrician, came to Upstate in 2006. Part of the draw for Smith and his wife Donna Bacchia, who is also a pediatrician, was the inclusion and construction of a state of the art children’s hospital within the hospital.
Inside and out
The new addition’s architect, Karlsberger, is nationally known for its design in children’s hospitals. The glass rendition of a tree house that is visible from Crouse Ave., is a direct entrance to the children’s hospital.
“The tree house includes a rapid transit system,” Smith said, meaning the GCH has its own direct entrance.
On the tree house’s ground floor there is a clubhouse, where there is access to an inner yard or green space for taking fresh air. The tree house also contains meeting rooms, relaxing rooms, a chapel and a library. Dr. Thomas Welch, Chairman of Pediatrics at Upstate and the Medical Director for the GCH said he hopes the community will take advantage of this space to engage in issues regarding children’s health.
Upstate Medical Associate Administrator Leola Rodgers said, essentially the working children’s hospital is the 11th and 12th floors of the new addition. It is an “H” turned on its side.
The interior design scheme is colorful but not brash. It is whimsical but not childish. Rodgers said the intent was to create a magical, environment that would lend itself to small children, adolescents and adults. Think great children’s literature how it is written on several levels so both children and adults can appreciate it.
The architects used different angles to create a sense of wonder in a space that is clean and orderly. The attention to detail is stunning, especially in comparison to the 1950’s design of the existing children’s ward.
“It’s two different centuries,” Welch said.
Doors are inset to move patients in and out easily. Nurses have been decentralized to stations throughout the floor for ease of service. Special attention has been given to lighting, as well as mobility of the patient.
Welch said there are areas built in for Upstate’s students to conference or study. There are training rooms, so staff can train parents or guardians on how to use equipment they might be bringing home when a child is well enough to be released.
Each floor also has a separate family lounge with play area, more computer work stations and kitchen areas, so that families can bring in and prepare their own food. There will also be a Tim Horton’s available in the Children’s Hospital or the family can access the hospital cafeteria if they desire.
A new hydrotherapy area has been created, which is very important in treating sickle cell anemia and burns.
Patient’s rooms
Having the children’s care contained on the two floors of Upstate’s new addition means the patients don’t have to be moved around the hospital. Each child and their extended family will have a room to themselves. This will enable the family unit to keep functioning with structure that is so important for development and wellness.
“The first focus clearly has to be the child,” Welch said, “But the stress of an illness weighs heavily on the parents and siblings.” He said children clearly do better when their families are around and rather than just allowing for it, they are facilitating this type of environment.
Beyond the patient’s bed there is a window with a Syracuse cityscape, a desk area for the patient, a flat screen television and a play station. There is an area for nurses to wash small children and a full bathroom facility to accommodate the whole family. Speaking of the family, each room includes an area for visiting family members to relax, and if necessary, to operate their day to day business from a computer. They do not have to leave their child’s bedside.
“Kids can continue to develop and be stimulated,” Smith said, while dealing with their illness.
Rodgers noted that each room is a safe area, as medical procedures are carried out in separate rooms.
It’s not just a building
According to Rodgers the GCH is not just a building within a building, but rather an advocacy organization for children’s wellness. Children only come to the hospital when they are very sick. Upstate has an extensive outreach program for ill children being cared for in their homes that stretches into 17 counties.
There is an emphasis on the whole being, not just the body. Pediatrics is paving the way for medicine to move into considering the psychological, social and emotional care to support the physical care of not just the child but their extended families.
“This is an incredible therapeutic milieu,” Smith said. “This is about health and not just medicine.”
In essence, Smith said this is exactly where healthcare reform has to go – children are going to be front and center as they are the adults of the future and they will be taking care of us.
Passionate work
“It does epitomize the standard of care and compassion for our children,” Smith said.
Ultimately, the GCH came from a place of passion. It was well researched and thought out by members of the Central New York community. Smith credits that community and specifically Dr. Welch, who came from Cincinnati’s highly regarded Children’s Hospital (where Smith went to Medical School); Greg Eastwood who was Upstate’s President that enabled this project’s inception; and also Upstate’s Board including Mary Ann Shaw the chair of the Golisano Children’s Hospital Council, who made it her mission, when she came to Syracuse to work with her husband Kenneth “Buzz” Shaw the former Chancellor at Syracuse University.
“I think this facility compliments the strengths of the area,” Smith said.
One can tell that Smith is a believer in Upstate New York. He said the region they serve, which really goes from Canada to Pennsylvania deserves a state of the art children’s hospital. But even beyond this he believes that Upstate’s staff deserves this type of facility.
“The quality of this staff deserves this facility,” he said. “The building is phenomenal – and there is nothing that supercedes it in the country – but it is the people, our people that really make the difference.”
He added that this commitment is going to enable Upstate to continue to recruit and retain the finest healthcare professionals and even make it easier, which will put Upstate at a competitive advantage.
You can contact city@cnylink.com with any questions. Also, feel free to post comments below.
Comments powered by Disqus
Posted on Fri, August 28th, 2009Written by: Ellen Leahy, City Eagle Editor
email: city@cnylink.com
We start as children, so in thinking healthcare and wellness, children are the most appropriate starting point. And, what is a child without their family? This is the basic premise behind the Golisano Children’s Hospital (GCH) at Upstate Medical Center, which is set to open Sept. 23.
“Family is integral to the care and healing of the child,” said Dr. David Smith President of Upstate.
Smith, a pediatrician, came to Upstate in 2006. Part of the draw for Smith and his wife Donna Bacchia, who is also a pediatrician, was the inclusion and construction of a state of the art children’s hospital within the hospital.
Inside and out
The new addition’s architect, Karlsberger, is nationally known for its design in children’s hospitals. The glass rendition of a tree house that is visible from Crouse Ave., is a direct entrance to the children’s hospital.
“The tree house includes a rapid transit system,” Smith said, meaning the GCH has its own direct entrance.
On the tree house’s ground floor there is a clubhouse, where there is access to an inner yard or green space for taking fresh air. The tree house also contains meeting rooms, relaxing rooms, a chapel and a library. Dr. Thomas Welch, Chairman of Pediatrics at Upstate and the Medical Director for the GCH said he hopes the community will take advantage of this space to engage in issues regarding children’s health.
Upstate Medical Associate Administrator Leola Rodgers said, essentially the working children’s hospital is the 11th and 12th floors of the new addition. It is an “H” turned on its side.
The interior design scheme is colorful but not brash. It is whimsical but not childish. Rodgers said the intent was to create a magical, environment that would lend itself to small children, adolescents and adults. Think great children’s literature how it is written on several levels so both children and adults can appreciate it.
The architects used different angles to create a sense of wonder in a space that is clean and orderly. The attention to detail is stunning, especially in comparison to the 1950’s design of the existing children’s ward.
“It’s two different centuries,” Welch said.
Doors are inset to move patients in and out easily. Nurses have been decentralized to stations throughout the floor for ease of service. Special attention has been given to lighting, as well as mobility of the patient.
Welch said there are areas built in for Upstate’s students to conference or study. There are training rooms, so staff can train parents or guardians on how to use equipment they might be bringing home when a child is well enough to be released.
Each floor also has a separate family lounge with play area, more computer work stations and kitchen areas, so that families can bring in and prepare their own food. There will also be a Tim Horton’s available in the Children’s Hospital or the family can access the hospital cafeteria if they desire.
A new hydrotherapy area has been created, which is very important in treating sickle cell anemia and burns.
Patient’s rooms
Having the children’s care contained on the two floors of Upstate’s new addition means the patients don’t have to be moved around the hospital. Each child and their extended family will have a room to themselves. This will enable the family unit to keep functioning with structure that is so important for development and wellness.
“The first focus clearly has to be the child,” Welch said, “But the stress of an illness weighs heavily on the parents and siblings.” He said children clearly do better when their families are around and rather than just allowing for it, they are facilitating this type of environment.
Beyond the patient’s bed there is a window with a Syracuse cityscape, a desk area for the patient, a flat screen television and a play station. There is an area for nurses to wash small children and a full bathroom facility to accommodate the whole family. Speaking of the family, each room includes an area for visiting family members to relax, and if necessary, to operate their day to day business from a computer. They do not have to leave their child’s bedside.
“Kids can continue to develop and be stimulated,” Smith said, while dealing with their illness.
Rodgers noted that each room is a safe area, as medical procedures are carried out in separate rooms.
It’s not just a building
According to Rodgers the GCH is not just a building within a building, but rather an advocacy organization for children’s wellness. Children only come to the hospital when they are very sick. Upstate has an extensive outreach program for ill children being cared for in their homes that stretches into 17 counties.
There is an emphasis on the whole being, not just the body. Pediatrics is paving the way for medicine to move into considering the psychological, social and emotional care to support the physical care of not just the child but their extended families.
“This is an incredible therapeutic milieu,” Smith said. “This is about health and not just medicine.”
In essence, Smith said this is exactly where healthcare reform has to go – children are going to be front and center as they are the adults of the future and they will be taking care of us.
Passionate work
“It does epitomize the standard of care and compassion for our children,” Smith said.
Ultimately, the GCH came from a place of passion. It was well researched and thought out by members of the Central New York community. Smith credits that community and specifically Dr. Welch, who came from Cincinnati’s highly regarded Children’s Hospital (where Smith went to Medical School); Greg Eastwood who was Upstate’s President that enabled this project’s inception; and also Upstate’s Board including Mary Ann Shaw the chair of the Golisano Children’s Hospital Council, who made it her mission, when she came to Syracuse to work with her husband Kenneth “Buzz” Shaw the former Chancellor at Syracuse University.
“I think this facility compliments the strengths of the area,” Smith said.
One can tell that Smith is a believer in Upstate New York. He said the region they serve, which really goes from Canada to Pennsylvania deserves a state of the art children’s hospital. But even beyond this he believes that Upstate’s staff deserves this type of facility.
“The quality of this staff deserves this facility,” he said. “The building is phenomenal – and there is nothing that supercedes it in the country – but it is the people, our people that really make the difference.”
He added that this commitment is going to enable Upstate to continue to recruit and retain the finest healthcare professionals and even make it easier, which will put Upstate at a competitive advantage.
You can contact city@cnylink.com with any questions. Also, feel free to post comments below.
Comments powered by Disqus