Reprinted with permission, courtesy: The Asbury Park Press on 02/23/07
BY CAROL GORGA WILLIAMS
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU
LONG BRANCH — Nine-year-old Jack McLoone is an old hand at showing
newcomers the ropes.
This, he says, while navigating a circuitous route
through the maze of spaces, is one of the infusion rooms. And this is
his favorite room, he says of the space decorated in a surfing motif.
"That was originally a real surfboard," he said of what serves now as
the top of an examination table. Why is it his favorite? "Because it
is really cool."
Aside from being a tour guide, Jack, of Little
Silver, is a cancer patient at The Valerie Fund, one of seven Valerie
Fund hospitals in New Jersey that treat more than 5,000 children with
cancer and blood disorders every year.
Some days, "You can't even tell you're sick at all, they make you feel
so at home," Jack said of The
Valerie Fund at Monmouth Medical Center,
where each of the seven rooms has a separate theme.
Dr. Margaret C. Fisher, medical director of the
Children's Hospital, says future expansion of pediatric facilities will
make the rest of the rooms look like the Valerie center: cheery and
child-centered.
For Beth McLoone, Jack's mother, the convenience
of a Children's Hospital nearby has made all the difference. Monmouth
is one of two in the Shore area. Jersey Shore University Medical Center
has its K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital.
McLoone recalls that when her son first became
ill, she made an appointment for a consultation at Hackensack University
Medical Center. But she went in another direction.
"I could not imagine putting him in that car — with all the nausea
and exhaustion," she said. "Being 10 minutes away is great."
The Children's Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center
is one of 250 such specialized facilities in the country, part of a
movement that acknowledges children are not merely little adults: They
require specially trained and attuned health-care workers, according
to the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions.
Monmouth Medical Center, an affiliate of the Saint
Barnabas Health Care Center, got its new facility licensed by the state
in January 2006, just three months after Jersey Shore got its license.
It is one of eight state-designated children's hospitals.
The designation for Monmouth encompasses all the
health care services devoted to pediatric patients, with 140 pediatric
specialists in 30 subspecialties from asthma to urology. It includes
such facilities as the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Cranmer Ambulatory
Surgery Center, the pediatric emergency department and the Valerie Fund — named
for a childhood cancer victim.
The Children's Hospital participates in clinical
trials for cancer treatment and cystic fibrosis, according to Fisher.
Monmouth Medical Center, which delivers more babies
than any hospital in Monmouth or Ocean counties, is licensed for 23
NIC patients at a time but often goes over that, accommodating as many
as 38, as long as services are available, said Cristen Glende, a registered
nurse who is clinical director of the Regional Newborn Center.
A new license will soon provide for 31 beds, under
the terms of a proposed multimillion-dollar expansion.
"If anyone has $8 million to give us, let me know," Glende joked.
Registered nurse Megan Kroeze has proposed "Big Steps for Little Feet," an
inaugural fundraising walk on the boardwalk near Pier Village on Sept.
16.
"Children can get really sick really quickly, and they can get well
really quickly," said Dawn Brown, director of the emergency department. "These
physicians are trained to pick up on that."
At the Cranmer center, about 45 percent of the
surgeries are for pediatric conditions. On request, children can have
presurgical tours so the facility is presented in a non-threatening
way.
"Generally, the parents are very happy with the care they've received
here because they feel the child has been paid attention to," said Rose
Polasky, director of the center. "That's a big plus for this place because
we are very, very child-focused, and everyone is very aware how anxious
the parents are, and we try to take care of them as well."
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