Patients at the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park will soon be able to head to the great outdoors as part of their treatment.
And the trip to get there will only require the use of an elevator and last a couple of minutes.
North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health Care System, the medical center’s parent company, received a $450,000 grant last week as part of the state’s $1 billion jobs initiative, which will be used to install a “green” rooftop park on top of the Cohen Children’s Medical Center.
“The idea is by bringing (patients) outdoors into an environment, in which there’s plant life and perhaps birds and other facets of nature, that it will help promote the healing process,” North Shore-LIJ Vice President of Public Relations Terry Lynam said.
“What we anticipate is just having almost like an arboretum of sorts where the kids can hang out and participate in various activities on the rooftop of the hospital.”
The health system will match the funds received in the state grant to create the outdoor healing environment, which Lynam said is part of the hospital’s Child Life Program intended to help “kids cope with their hospitalization.”
“Hospitalization is very traumatic for children,” Lynam said. “They’re scared. They’re anxious. Even for the parents, it’s a very unsettling time. The reason behind all of our various Child Life Programs … is to help put children at ease during a difficult time in their life.”
Although the Child Life Program is not new to North Shore-LIJ, the idea of having an outdoor environment for patients is a new one, Lynam said.
“All programs pretty much take place inside,” he said. “This is being designed with the idea of helping kids, typically those who may have a prolonged hospital visit and are basically inside for weeks on end, it helps get them some fresh air and exposes them to the outdoors.”
The Child Life Program already includes pet therapy, art therapy, music therapy and a variety of other programs intended to assist patients in the healing process, Lynam said.
The new rooftop park is intended to enhance those programs with grass, plants, other green surfacing, fencing and LED exterior lighting installed to create a park on what Lynam called a “portion” of the roof.
“As Cohen Children’s Medical Center continues to renovate essential facilities to meet the needs of our pediatric patients, the green rooftop will be a wonderful new space for children and their families to enjoy,” Cohen Children’s Medical Center Executive Director Kevin McGeachy said in a news release announcing the project. “The goal is to create a holistic healing space and play area for children as well as provide a quiet respite for families and staff members.”
The process to create the rooftop park began nearly three months ago when the hospital initially sent its grant proposal to the state for approval. Exact plans for the rooftop park are still being made and construction on the project will begin as soon as possible, Lynam said.
“It still needs to be designed,” Lynam said of the park. “At this point it’s primarily just a concept with some very general designs.”
North Shore-LIJ received $130,000 in additional funds as part of the state’s jobs initiative in a grant intended to provide “up-to-date clinical information technology certification” for both unemployed nurses and nurses currently working within the health care system, the news release announcing the grants said.
“This new funding will help the health system to create new jobs and advance the skills of current staff members as well as make ‘green’ renovations and improvements to our children’s hospital,” North Shore-LIJ President and CEO Michael J. Dowling said.
