Donor-Supported Lab Reduces Pediatric Patients’ Fear of Needles
On Tuesday, June 10 at 11:30 a.m., Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent clinical professionals will help reduce an 11-year-old pediatric patient’s fear of needles by drawing blood at the new child-friendly laboratory.
The faith-based children’s hospital is Indiana’s only child-friendly blood draw provider to be staffed by pediatric-trained clinicians who use pain-minimizing creams, and collaborate with child life specialists to employ various distraction techniques, such as playing games with patients to ensure the best experience.
“Our child-friendly blood draw uses the latest and creative approaches to help reduce patients’ fear of needles and make the blood-drawing process less painful,” said Dr. Joanne Hilden, medical director of Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent. “We understand that blood draws can be scary for patients, so our goal is to make certain every child who enters the lab has a pleasant outcome.”
Two local supporters of the Children’s Hospital donated a total of $600,000 to provide an outpatient laboratory for hematology/oncology, pre-operative, cardiovascular, genetic and general pediatric patients.
Robert Skinner, a former business and community leader, was a cancer patient at St.Vincent who routinely had blood work done at the adult laboratory. During his visits, he frequently observed children sitting in the same waiting room for their blood draws, so he took the initiative to make a generous $100,000 donation before his death in 2006 to help establish a dedicated space for children who need this service. His wife, Avis, also gave two additional gifts in memory of her late husband to the child-friendly laboratory.
In 2006, the Crosser family, longtime St.Vincent supporters, established a grant of more than $370,000 to make the blood draw area a reality for pediatric patients. The Crosser Family Foundation, which was started by the late Richard Crosser, also funded the comprehensive Children’s Hospital playground in 2002.
The child-friendly blood draw laboratory is conveniently located off the main lobby of Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital, and no appointments are necessary.
For more information, contact Johnny Smith at (317) 338-2036.
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Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent
Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent was founded on delivering family-centered care for all pediatric patients throughout Indiana. The dedicated children’s hospital has grown to more than 300 pediatric specialists, 46 inpatient beds, 15 beds in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and 17 private rooms in the Hilbert Pediatric Emergency Department. The array of pediatric specialists and clinical staff at the comprehensive children’s hospital provide the highest quality of care in emergency medicine, cancer and blood diseases, general surgery, cardiology, orthopedics, pulmonology, otolaryngology, rehabilitation and endocrinology.
For more information please contact:
Johnny Smith Jr.
St.Vincent Health
Public Relations
(317) 583-3961 (office)
(317) 338-3550 #8225 (pager)
