St. Joseph Health Centre:Annual Report

Emergency Departments can be very intense and intimidating, especially for children. Thanks to St. Joseph’s uniquely structured Emergency Department, parents arriving in the ED with young children are immediately triaged to the Paediatric Emergency side of the department. This was the path that Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood followed when their daughter Abby fell ill in December, 2007.

Emergency Departments can be very intense and intimidating, especially for children. Thanks to St. Joseph’s uniquely structured Emergency Department, parents arriving in the ED with young children are immediately triaged to the Paediatric Emergency side of the department. This was the path that Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood followed when their daughter Abby fell ill in December, 2007.

“Once inside the Paediatric ED I felt relieved and reassured because I felt they really supported and listened to us,” said Mrs. Greenwood.

Child Life Specialist, Liz Siydock had been introduced to the family on a previous visit, and met with Abby after she had been admitted to the Paediatric Unit. The interactions with Liz immediately comforted Abby at a time when her parents could not seem to calm her.

“I instantly knew that with having Liz there, she would provide the kind of care and compassion that Abby would have received in her own home.”

After just days of being discharged from the Health Centre, the Greenwoods received an invitation to the annual Paediatric Christmas Party, allowing them to come back and celebrate the great work that helped and healed the entire family.

“I was so overjoyed to receive the invitation to the party because I thought it was for longer term patients. We went to the party and had a great time - I just love coming back here!”