The Packard Brand of Care

Children are currently treated alongside adult patients at Stanford's Emergency Department, but Packard hopes to develop emergency services geared especially for kids.

Packard Children's Hospital has developed a family centered "brand of care" to provide comprehensive, high-quality services for critically ill children and their families. Nurses, doctors, and staff are specially trained to care for children. Laboratories are calibrated for a child's biology. Equipment and rooms are designed for small bodies, and all rooms include sleeping accommodations for a parent. Play therapy helps a child prepare for medical procedures.

Many of the key elements to support families and patients during their stay at Packard already are in place, but others need to be developed or expanded. The vision for Packard Hospital's family-centered care includes:

• Emergency care geared for children: Packard's goal is to hire a dedicated pediatric emergency team, reduce emergency room waiting times and, in the long term, construct a child-friendly pediatric area for emergency services.
  

• A pain-free environment: Packard hopes to endow two fellows in pain management and train medical staff in a range of pain-relief methods, from pharmaceutical to psychological.
  
  
• A palliative care program: Thanks to generous contributions from the community, Packard already has launched a palliative care program to support patients and their families facing end-of-life issues.
  
  
• Child life specialists: At Packard, child life specialists help young patients cope with lengthy imaging procedures and ease children through a variety of other medical procedures.
  
  
• Family centered care: Packard has developed an innovative model of family centered care that involves parents as partners in the health care team. Gifts help fund staff education, parent mentoring, and parent education.
  
  
• General pediatrics: Many children who are uninsured or who are covered by Medi-Cal turn to Packard's general pediatrics clinic for primary and acute care. Because these services received little or no reimbursement, Packard relies on contributions to help care for any child in need of its services, regardless of a family's ability to pay.
  
  
• Social services: Both a child's health and a family's emotional well being are enhanced when their basic needs are met. Packard's social services department provides families of limited financial resources with assistance in meals, housing, transportation, and other support services, such as interpreters, chaplains and psychologists.