March is Child Life Month, but our dedicated child life services at Maimonides Children’s Hospital are available year-round. Our program specialists support the psychosocial needs of children and families using play, art, and music therapy to help cope with hospital stays and promote children’s overall well-being.
Our child life services also include regular entertainment, including musical performances. “It really is such a great distraction from the everyday, and even for the staff, the staff loves to hear the kids having a good time and singing and not going through something that’s scary or stressful for the patients,” said Alexis Ellis, child life specialist and manager of our child life services.
On Wednesdays, that entertainment comes in the form of a ukelele show with Spencer Grubbe, who is a member of JoyRX Children’s Cancer Association, which offers free music, mentorship, and nature experiences to help seriously ill children feel better.
“The hospital can be really overwhelming . . . I’m not here to do any medical stuff; just give them some music service. And usually it’s something they request and want to hear, and they really like that. So it means a lot,” said Grubbe.
Learn more about our Child Life, Creative Arts, and Education Program and read more from the Brooklyn Paper.
About Maimonides Health
Maimonides Health is Brooklyn’s largest healthcare system, providing more than 1 million patient visits each year through the system’s three hospitals, 1,800+ physicians, and more than 80 community-based practices and outpatient centers. Our system is anchored by Maimonides Medical Center, one of the nation’s largest independent teaching hospitals and home to centers of excellence in numerous specialties; Maimonides Midwood Community Hospital (formerly New York Community Hospital), a 130-bed adult medical–surgical hospital; and Maimonides Children’s Hospital, Brooklyn’s only children’s hospital and only pediatric trauma center.
Maimonides’ clinical programs rank among the best in the country for patient outcomes, including our Heart and Vascular Institute, Neurosciences Institute, Bone and Joint Center, and Cancer Center. For additional information, please visit www.maimo.org and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.