Booster seats save lives. Using one lowers the risk of injury to children by 59 percent compared to using seatbelts alone. Parents should know that children age four to eight years old and less than four feet, nine inches tall should ride in a booster seat.
On Saturday, May 20, parents will have an opportunity to find out if their young children are properly restrained with the help of Hasbro Children’s Hospital and its community partners. Parents will learn about the different types of booster seats and which one is best for their child’s height, weight and age.
Experts will demonstrate how to correctly install and use a booster seat in the car. The program is presented by the Injury Prevention Center at Rhode Island Hospital, Rhode Island State Police SAFEKIDS Coalition and Lifespan Community Health Services.
If your child has the flu, or breaks a bone, you take him or her to a doctor to make him or her well. But what if they’re hurting emotionally? Bradley Hospital believes that treating the mental health needs of children is just as important as healing them physically.
Mental illness is a disease as significant as cancer or diabetes yet it is still largely misunderstood and feared by many people. On Saturday, April 22, Bradley Hospital will host a 5K-road race to help “stomp out the stigma” of mental illness.
Registration is $20.00. Roller blades, bicycles, strollers and pets are not allowed in the race.
This race is sponsored by Gilbane Building Company and The RE/MAX offices of Rhode Island.
For the two week period, beginning at 6 a.m. on Monday, April 24, and continuing through Sunday, May 7, the bridge that connects the Medical Office Center to the Bridge Building will be closed for flooring repairs.
The bridge will reopen on Monday, May 8. During this time period, patient, visitor and staff traffic will be rerouted through the East Side, emergency department entrance between the Davol Building and the Bridge Building. See map for directions.
The Cure Kids Cancer Radiothon for Hasbro Children’s Hospital, the most successful first-time radiothon for kids in North America, will once again hit the airwaves in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. The hospital will partner with Citadel Broadcasting Providence and the Cure Kids Cancer Coalition to present the second radiothon to benefit pediatric cancer treatment and research at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.
Hosted by the five local stations of Citadel Broadcasting—92 PRO-FM, Lite Rock 105, HOT 106, News Talk 630 WPRO, and Sports Radio 99.7 and 790 The SCORE—the live radiothon will be broadcast from the lower lobby of the hospital on Thursday, April 27, and Friday, April 28, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The stations will then broadcast live from the Warwick Mall on the final day, Saturday, April 29, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Listeners are invited to tune in to their favorite station, during which they will hear stories about young cancer patients from Hasbro Children’s Hospital, as well as live interviews with patients and physicians, nurses and other staff. Donations can be made starting on Thursday, April 27, by calling the Cure Kids Cancer donation hotline at 888-786-8811 or by pledging online at www.hasbrochildrenshospital.org.
“We’re very excited to take part in the radiothon again this year,” says Joseph Amaral, MD, president and CEO of Rhode Island Hospital and its Hasbro Children’s Hospital. “We greatly appreciate the dedication of the staff at Citadel Broadcasting and the incredible support of the community who made last year’s program such a success.” Amaral also notes, “We’d especially like to thank our young patients and their parents for sharing their personal stories to help continue our fight against pediatric cancer through the best treatment and new research.”
Last year, during the first radiothon, more than $1.4 million was raised to provide funding for pediatric cancer treatment and research at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. Approximately 7,300 people donated to the radiothon last year, making it the most successful first-time radiothon for kids in North America.
“We are so thankful to the community for their generosity last year. With their help, we have provided enhanced programs and advanced care for some of the most critically ill children in our community,” says Cindy Schwartz, MD, director of the division of pediatric hematology/oncology at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. “We look forward to working with the community once again to continue to provide the best care possible and search for a cure.”
The “Cure Kids Cancer” radiothon is presented by a partnership of Citadel Broadcasting Providence, the Cure Kids Cancer Coalition and Hasbro Children’s Hospital. Visit the Hasbro Children’s Hospital More about this event
Two Rhode Island Hospital patients who have undergone a unique type of kidney donation—kidney exchange—will share their stories at a ceremony recognizing the New England Program for Kidney Exchange (NEPKE). With more than 66,000 Americans on the kidney waiting list, and nearly 195 of those at Rhode Island Hospital, the New England Program for Kidney Exchange offers a new option for those seeking a kidney transplant, but whose potential living donor is incompatible.
On Wednesday, April 19 at 10:30 a.m., in the Hasbro Children’s Hospital lower lobby, Rhode Island Hospital and the New England Organ Bank will recognize this innovative program and pay tribute to the families who have benefited from it. Two women, one who might still be on the kidney transplant waiting list if she had not participated in the program, and another who helped her husband find a compatible donor, will share their stories. Representatives from Rhode Island Hospital and the New England Organ Bank will also give an overview of the program and its impact on the thousands of people in the United States who are waiting for a kidney transplant.
Using a computer program, NEPKE finds cases where the donor in an incompatible pair can be matched to a different incompatible pair. By exchanging donors, the program finds a compatible match for both people waiting for a kidney.
A kidney exchange can be performed in two ways. First, a patient can undergo a paired kidney exchange, in which a donor is willing to donate to a spouse, friend, or relative, but cannot do so because he or she is incompatible. The exchange program will help find another incompatible pair who might wish to exchange donor kidneys. They then “swap” donor kidneys.
Another type of kidney exchange results when a transplant candidate’s incompatible spouse, friend or relative chooses to donate a kidney to someone on the waiting list. By doing so, the candidate, who still does not have a donor, will then move up on the deceased donor wait list and will receive the next compatible donor kidney.
Each of the speakers sharing a story on Wednesday participated in one of the two types of exchanges. One speaker had been on the waiting list and on dialysis for nearly a year. The other speaker’s husband had also been on the waiting list and on dialysis for about a year. Since the wait for a kidney can span many years, both patients might still be waiting and undergoing dialysis if not for this innovative program.
Kidney exchange programs are developing across the country. Rhode Island Hospital is the only transplant program in the state to participate in an exchange program. The transplant program at Rhode Island Hospital is one of the largest, fastest growing programs in New England.
Every day, 17 people die while waiting for an organ transplant. As April is National Donate Life Month, the ceremony is an opportunity to recognize the NEPKE, which can help reduce the number of people on the waiting list, and to raise awareness of the desperate need for organ donation.
