Chicago, IL

At Shriners Hospitals for Children®, “family centered care” is not just a catchphrase. It is a philosophy of care and treatment that impacts every aspect of how we interact with, and care for, our patients and their families.

We understand that you are the expert on your child. You know how he will respond to new people and places, the best way to get her to take her medicine, how to settle him down to sleep at night, what she likes to do for fun and which stuffed animal absolutely must be packed in the bag when you come to the hospital. It is your detailed knowledge of your child that helps make our medical team more effective. And it is why we put the family at the center of our care.

Here are a few of things you and your family will experience when your child is a patient at Shriners Hospitals for Children:

• Meetings with you and the entire medical team treating your child – including a pediatrician, surgeons, radiologists, physical/occupational/speech therapists and nurses – to review your child’s condition, discuss the treatment plan and set goals
• Support groups for parents to help cope with caring for a disabled or critically injured child
• Activities to keep siblings busy during hospital visits and groups to help siblings get to know other children with disabled or critically injured brothers or sisters
• Family accommodations available on site so that you can be close to your child during his or her stay
• Spacious inpatient rooms that make it easy for you to stay at your child’s bedside around the clock
• A cafeteria open to families and patients that serves inexpensive hot meals three times a day
• On site laundry facilities for use during extended hospital stays
• Transportation assistance if you need to go out into the community for supplies during an extended stay
• Transportation assistance getting to and from the hospital for scheduled appointments
• Psychological/psychiatric services for patients and families
• Social workers to help families with a variety of issues at home and in the community
• Care coordination services to help you with every aspect of your child’s care, both here at Shriners Hospitals for Children and when you return home

In our experience, strong families make strong children. That is why we do everything we can to answer your questions, make you and your child as comfortable as possible, and provide the resources you need both now and in the future.

One of the first things you notice when you walk into Shriners Hospitals for Children® is that they do not look very much like hospitals, which is exactly how we want it to be. After all, our hospitals are a reflection of our patients – bright, hopeful, happy and full of possibility.

Every aspect of our hospitals' physical design and overall atmosphere is based on putting children at ease and creating an environment that allows kids to be kids. In our hospitals you will find things like:

• Teen lounges stocked with books, movies, music and video games
• Game rooms with pool tables and foosball
• Children’s play areas with blocks, books, arts and crafts supplies, climbing structures and more
• Outdoor playgrounds
• Spacious indoor recreation areas for games like wheelchair basketball or group yoga

Even the clinical areas of our hospital are child-friendly:

• Our outpatient clinic treatment rooms have examination tables shaped like fire trucks and hippos.
• Our radiology suites have lots of pictures on the walls and ceilings to keep kids engaged during procedures.
• Our physical therapy rooms include video games and lots of toys to help kids have fun while doing important therapeutic activities.
• Our hospital lobbies are stocked with toys and games to keep patients and siblings busy while waiting for appointments.
• Small children are taken into surgery in bright red wagons just their size.

And the most unique thing you will find in our hospitals is the Shriners themselves, giving their time to entertain and visit our patients, talk with parents about how they are doing, and even driving patients to and from hospital visits.

For those of us who work at Shriners Hospitals for Children, watching kids run, jump, explore, laugh and play is our greatest joy and proof that our mission is making a difference.

No matter what their medical condition, kids are always looking ahead, always wanting to move forward. These hospitals are designed solely for the purpose of making that happen.