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NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and Dunkin' Joy In Childhood Foundation Unveils Newly Renovated Pediatric Space for Patients

This new Starlight Site is one of nine nationwide; the spaces are designed to create a welcoming and calming environment for pediatric patients and their family

Jan 31, 2020

Queens, NY

NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation, the charitable foundation supported by Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, today unveiled its new Starlight Site in the hospital’s pediatric clinic. The newly- renovated space is a result of the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation’s $1.5 million partnership with Starlight Children’s Foundation. The completed Starlight Site at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens features an updated, brighter, and happier pediatric waiting area space for its pediatric patients and their families.

The Starlight Site spaces aim to ease stress and support the overall health and well-being of pediatric patients by providing hospitals with rooms designed to be enjoyed by children and their families. Starlight Sites support kids and families as treatment rooms, teen lounges, playrooms, kitchens, gardens, and other healing spaces.

The waiting room updates now include:

  • Improved, private lactation room with a floral mural and bamboo wainscoting
  • Freshly-painted sub-waiting area featuring custom-painted child-friendly murals
  • Phlebotomy room featuring a new mural and two painted ceiling tiles
  • Reading nook for young children
  • Tween-teen waiting area that includes a new Virtual Reality Learning Center

“At NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens, we are dedicated to ensuring the comfort of our patients at all times, and these new enhancements to our pediatric wing will be a welcome addition for children, parents and caregivers who rely on our hospital for their pediatric needs,” said Chris Roker, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens. “We have long been committed to minimizing the waiting period for our patients. The imminent arrival of the Starlight Site will go a long way toward alleviating the wait and improving the patient experience.”

“Having worked with the Starlight Foundation through the years, we have been able to brighten the experience of our patients in a variety of settings within the Pediatric Service with Starlight Fun Centers,” said Marcy Albert, MD, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens Director of Pediatrics. “Most recently, as a recipient of this grant, we have been able to enhance a number of areas in our pediatric clinic – making it a happier, more beautiful and more interesting place for children and their families to come for their healthcare.”

In 2018, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens was selected as one of the recipients of a Starlight Grant funded by the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation in the amount of $13,110. NYC Health + Hospitals/ Queens allocated the funds to update its existing pediatric clinic to make it more child- and family-friendly. In 2017, the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation made a three-year, $1.5 million commitment to Starlight Children’s Foundation in support of programs that bring joy and comfort to hospitalized kids, including the Starlight Sites program.

“Through our partnership with Starlight Children’s Foundation, we’ve seen the joy that Starlight Sites can bring to patients and their families,” said Karen Raskopf, Co-Chair, The Joy in Childhood Foundation. “That’s why we’re so excited to bring this Starlight Site – a waiting room – to NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and give their pediatric patients and families an opportunity to create more joyful moments together when they need it most.”

Since the pediatric clinic’s unveiling, NYC Health + Hospitals/ Queens received an additional check from Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation, in the amount of $25,000 towards future improvements.