On Thursday, June 26, the Hasbro Children’s Partial Hospital Program (HCPHP) celebrated its ten-year anniversary with an open house reception at the hospital. Doctors, former patients and their families, school counselors and other supporters joined together to celebrate the program’s success in helping children and their families.

Pictured, from left, are Kitty Pennington, RD, LDN, director of food and nutrition services; Pamela High, MD, co-director of the Partial Program; Michelle Rickerby, MD, clinical director of the Partial Program, and her daughter Lillie socialize in the open area of the Hasbro Children’s Partial Hospital Program during its 10th Anniversary celebration reception. On Thursday, June 26, the HCPHP welcomed former patients and their families back to Rhode Island Hospital to celebrate the program’s success.

Opened in June 1998, the HCPHP began as a pilot program to treat children who experienced a combination of physical and emotional illness. Since then, more than 1,000 children and adolescents with chronic illnesses (asthma, diabetes, pain syndromes, bowel disease, eating disorders, etc.) have benefited from the expertise of this unique program’s 25-member, multidisciplinary treatment team.

“The Partial Program treats kids who fall through the cracks of conventional pediatric care,” said Thomas Roesler, MD, co-director of the program at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. “They are not sick enough to be admitted to the hospital, but are not responding to outpatient treatment. For many children, the Partial Program is their last hope for a cure.”

The HCPHP is unique in its status as a day treatment program - with patients coming for eight hours a day, five days a week - that treats multiple illnesses. It is the only program in the Northeast where children with conditions such as eating disorders, diabetes, asthma, sickle cell disease, chronic pain, eczema, Crohn’s disease and thyroid issues are all treated together in an integrated and collaborative environment. Pediatricians, nutritionists, psychiatrists, school administrators, nurses, physical therapists and others all come together to discuss treatment and help the children with a specialized care plan.

Family-centered care is a key component in a patient’s success. In order to enter the HCPHP, children must have a family to go home to at night, so that the entire family unit can take control of the patient’s illness as a team. This approach helps the patient stay on track with daily attendance, record keeping at home, behavioral and family activities, as well as keeping up with schoolwork via two on-staff teachers.

“It has been an honor to become a national model for day treatment programs through our continued success these past 10 years,” said Pamela High, MD, pediatrician and co-director with Roesler. “As development teams from other hospitals continue to tour the HCPHP, I hope that other programs similar to ours can be established nationally to help young patients with their challenging chronic illnesses.”

Find out more about the program.