YALE NEW HAVEN HOSPITAL

Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital (YNHCH) is a 208-bed comprehensive pediatric hospital that is part of the Yale New Haven Hospital complex. As a major referral center it includes SkyHealth, an emergency patient transport helicopter, to provide life-saving treatment for patients in critical conditions. YNHCH includes maternity and pediatric services, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), pediatric intensive care unit, and a 24-hour Pediatric Emergency Department and surgery center. Pediatric Primary Care Centers provide primary and preventive care to thousands of children each year. The Child Life Program at YNHCH is critical to reducing anxiety for children through education, therapeutic play, psychosocial support and creative programming, including Arts for Healing. Arts for Healing (est. 2003) supports the child and family in coping with illness, traumatic events and the healthcare experience through the arts. Artists and therapists foster resilience in children and families through therapeutic activities that results in learning, self-expression, enhanced community and improved quality of life. YNHCH recognizes the critical role of the family in supporting a child’s healing process. Much of our art programming invites family participation. Arts for Healing engages about 10,000 people annually, half are family members and caregivers who participate with the patient. With the expansion of specialized satellite facilities, the treatment of children with less acute conditions is transitioning to outpatient care, creating a hospital population with increasing medical complexity. Of the approximately 5,000 patient sessions, about 2,500 sessions are provided at bedside to children and teens with acute and chronic illnesses, trauma or mental health needs. Newborns residing in our NICU receive about 500 sessions annually. About 2,000 patient sessions occur in workshop programs.