Queens Hospital Gets Wii Fun Center Grant

Kids at the Queens Hospital Center will be having a ton of fun as they enjoy their new Wii Fun Center, which was provided by the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation.
Along with the Fun Center, the foundation also awarded Queens Hospital with a $22,577 grant for its Pediatric Special Events/Socialization Program. Both the Fun Center and the grant are expected to significantly benefit the hospital’s Department of Pediatrics and the families of its patients.
“Adding this exciting component to our Pediatrics Department goes hand-in-hand with our philosophy of getting kids moving and active again - and perfectly meshes with our Healthy Lifestyles Program - to balance their stay in the hospital,” said Marcy Stein-Albert, MD, Queens Hospital Center’s Director of Pediatrics. “The Nintendo Wii Fun Center provides a fun and engaging activity for these children while they are in the process of recuperating.”
The Fun Center that is provided for the children is an interactive entertainment unit that includes a Sharp Aquos flat-panel screen, a DVD player and the newly anticipated Nintendo Wii System. These portable units can roll anywhere in the hospital, including right up to a child’s bedside, so even children who can’t move can still play.
“Starlight’s mission is to help seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education, and family activities,” stated Elaine Silver, Executive Director of Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation of NY, NJ and CT. “This program is designed to aid children services in hospitals such as Queens Hospital Center in Jamaica, Queens. We are confident it will help restore some of the happiness that a serious illness takes away and make a child’s hospital experience more pleasant - and when possible, more fun.”
According to the hospital, they will use Starlight’s generous grant for an annual trip to Rye Playland for pediatric patients and their families.
“Our experiences with previous socialization opportunities resulting from a Starlight Starbright grant have shown us that enabling patients to interact with their peers in a non-clinical setting strengthens their socialization skills, promotes a positive self-image, and addresses the isolation issues chronically-ill kids are prone to,” said Meredith R. Farrell, Child Life Program Coordinator for the Queens Health Network