Hospital Care

Families with children and youth with special health care needs may make frequent or unexpected visits to the hospital. The pages in this section are designed to provide some information to help families through the difficult and sometimes confusing process of hospitalization.

The Hospital Admissions, Inpatient Stay, and Discharge page will help families understand the paperwork and processes for being admitted to the hospital and being discharged back home. It also provides helpful hints that families can use to be more prepared for unexpected visits and ideas to help with sometimes lengthy inpatient stays.

The Hospital to Home/Community page will help families prepare for the transition between leaving the hospital and going back home, to school, or into another medical facility. The page offers sample forms and helpful hints for keeping the Medical Home, school, and other organizations informed and working together for the best interest of the child and their medical condition.

The Child Life Services page will explain what child life specialists do in the hospital and how families can use that expertise to help reduce the child’s fears, keep the child active, and access other in-hospital services that can benefit the child and family.