YNHCH celebrated its new Children’s Day Hospital on George Street with a March 9 ribbon-cutting that included (l-r): Yann Poncin, MD; Linda Mayes, MD, chair of the Yale Child Study Center; Cynthia Sparer, YNHHS executive vice president and president of Ambulatory Care and executive director, YNHCH; Ana-Laura Bush, LCSW; Ashley McGuffie, milieu counselor; Carol Codeanne Teixeira, RN, patient services manager, Child Psychiatric Inpatient Services; Jennifer Granoth, therapeutic recreation specialist; Denine Baxter, RN, director of nursing, Pediatric Inpatient; and Abby, one of YNHCH’s therapy dogs-in-residence.
Group rooms and a classroom at the new Children’s Day Hospital are spacious and bright, with smart screens and music. The new hospital also has a waiting room for family members and offices for staff; and all areas include child-friendly, colorful artwork.
To make room for the new Neurosciences and Bed Tower project at the Saint Raphael Campus, planners knew they would have to remove existing buildings, including one that housed the Children’s Day Hospital.
As the saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens.
“Being in the way of the Neurosciences Center construction gave us the opportunity to reimagine what a new Children’s Day Hospital should look like and feel like,” Cynthia Sparer, YNHHS executive vice president and president of Ambulatory Care, and executive director, Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, said at a March 9 ribbon-cutting and open house.
Sparer joined leaders from the Yale Child Study Center and the Children’s Hospital to celebrate the new Day Hospital, located at 350 George St.
The Day Hospital offers an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) that provides specialized treatment for children ages 5 to 13 who are experiencing significant behavioral health issues. The care team includes psychiatrists, licensed clinical social workers, certified therapeutic recreation specialists and milieu counselors.
The new Day Hospital, which opened to patients last December, features individual and group therapy spaces as well as therapeutic activities. It includes large, bright rooms with music and smart screens that can show different scenes, such as soothing virtual fish tanks. The hospital also includes a waiting area for parents, along with classrooms and staff offices.
“The new home is much more welcoming,” said Shelby Segala, one of four therapeutic recreation specialists. “It opens a lot of doors for what we can do with the kids.”
“The children love the new environment,” said Ashley McGuffie, milieu counselor. “It’s a beautiful space. It’s brighter, happier. It’s a child-friendly atmosphere.”
Linda Mayes, MD, chair of the Yale Child Study Center (CSC), noted that the new Children’s Day Hospital is downstairs from the CSC’s behavioral healthcare facility. This supports the continuum of care for Day Hospital patients, who can easily access the CSC’s outpatient care, she said.
“Our goal is to have children receive the care they need without any impediment,” added Yann Poncin, MD, assistant professor of clinical child psychiatry and clinician educator, Yale School of Medicine. “We’re celebrating more than a new home, but also the long-term investment in the lives of children across generations that it represents.”
