La Rabida Children’s Hospital is a pediatric specialty hospital for extended acute care that caters to children with lifelong medical conditions. Located on the South Side of Chicago on Lake Michigan, the facility is designed to showcase its lakeside views. La Rabida serves approximately 9,000 children annually who require primary and specialty care to address complex and challenging medical conditions. The hospital provides care to all patients regardless of the family’s ability to pay. Services and programs include treatment for chronic illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, sickle cell disease and developmental disabilities. In addition, La Rabida specializes in the treatment of children who have been abused, neglected or experienced trauma.
La Rabida offers access to board-certified pediatricians and specialty physicians, behavioral science professionals, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, dietitions, case managers and social workers. The inpatient unit, the S.S. La Rabida, serves patients with chronic illnesses who are experiencing a critical episode, as well as those in need of rehabilitation after surgery, burns, brain injury, stroke or are suffering from trauma.
La Rabida also offers expert care to children who are dependent on technology such as ventilators or tracheostomies, or who receive nutrition intravaneously, as well as those who are transitioning from a neonatal intensive care unit or pediatric ICU at another hospital. La Rabida serves patients who need hospitalization for weeks, months, and in some cases even longer. The hospital combines the specialized expertise of a large hospital with the personalized, patient-focused attention of a smaller facility.
La Rabida is recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance(NCQA) for its medical home programs. The hospital has also earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval.
History
For the Chicago World’s Fair Columbian Exposition in 1893, the government of Spain constructed its exhibition hall as a replica of Spain’s La Rabida Monastery â€" the embarkation site of Columbus’ new world exploration in 1492. After the fair, the Spanish Consulate donated the building to the City of Chicago for use as a fresh air sanitarium for sick children. A group of volunteer women led the effort to equip and staff the facility, raising money for operations and recruiting volunteer physicians.
Early in its history, La Rabida was saving the lives of children who suffered from illnesses and diseases associated with slum squalor and unsafe food handling practices. Children acquired severe and sometimes fatal illnesses from milk and food that had not been stored and cooled properly. As food handling technology improved, La Rabida turned its attention to rheumatic fever, which was claiming the lives of young children between the 1930s and the 1950s. The hospital gained international recognition for research that led to the eradication of the disease. In the 1960s, La Rabida made a formal commitment to treat the chronic illnesses of childhood.
Medical Specialties
Asthma
La Rabida’s Asthma Center is widely recognized as a Chicago leader for treating children with asthma and other respiratory problems. The multidisciplinary team of specialists includes pediatric allergists and immunologists, clinical nurse specialists, respiratory therapists, child psychologists, registered dietitians and social workers.
Brain Injury
La Rabida offers comprehensive, individualized inpatient and outpatient services for children who have a traumatic or non-traumatic brain injury. The medical team includes a pediatrician, a pediatric rehabilitation doctor who specializes in brain injury, psychologist, and case manager as well as physical, occupational, developmental and speech therapists. Services include standardized testing as well as neuropsychological screens as appropriate.
Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) affects children born prematurely. These infants have underdeveloped lungs and impaired lung function. Children with BPD often require complex treatment that includes oxygen and inhaled medication. Developmental disabilities and cardiac disorders may complicate matters further. Frequently, children with BPD must be hospitalized from birth. The medical team includes pediatric specialists, nurses, respiratory therapists, infant development specialists, and dieticians.
Burn Rehabilitation
La Rabida’s Burn Rehabilitation Program is the only one of its kind, and the only program in the Chicago area that includes psychologists as members of the multidisciplinary burn team. Treatment involves immediate trauma-focused assessment, psychological needs assessment, pain management, a focused physical rehabilitative program, ongoing trauma-focused psychotherapy, supportive family counseling, and multidisciplinary burn team rounds. The goals for all burn patients are compliance with medical regimen, recovery of lost physical skills or adaptation to disabilities, minimization of distress during necessary medical and rehabilitation procedures, desensitization to trauma-related stimuli, integration of traumatic experience, and grief work.
Child Trauma and Abuse
The Chicago Child Trauma Center (CCTC), located south of the hospital’s main campus, serves inner-city children from ages 3 to 18 exposed to traumatic events including medical trauma, sexual abuse, witnessing violence, and complex trauma. La Rabida’s Joli Burrell Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC), located in Park Forest, is a safe, child-friendly environment for children who have experience psychological trauma and for alleged victims of sexual abuse or other violent crimes. The CAC provides investigative, therapeutic and support services free of charge to children and their families throughout south suburban Cook County.
Developmental Delays
La Rabida has long been recognized as a leader in the diagnosis and treatment of children with developmental delays. The hospital offers comprehensive programs for children who require early intervention health services to promote growth and development. La Rabida becomes the interim home for neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) “graduates†as they grow stronger under the watchful supervision of pediatric specialists.
Developmental Disabilities
La Rabida offers beyond-medicine care for children with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and other neuromuscular disorders and those experiencing developmental delays. The medical team includes a pediatrician, sub-specialists, as well as other clinicians such as occupational and physical therapists, a speech language pathologist, a registered dietician, and mental health professionals.
Diabetes
Diabetes, a chronic condition, affects one in 600 children in the United States. Through education, training and access to excellent medical care, families can learn to manage their child’s diabetes, avoid diabetes-related complications and help him or her lead a healthy, well-balanced life. Services provided include evaluation and consultation, intensive insulin therapy, personalized nutritional counseling, ongoing assessment, planning and intervention, and individualized, age-appropriate patient and family education. The Chicago Children’s Diabetes Center (CCDC) is the city’s largest pediatric diabetes program.
Primary Care for Children with Special Needs
La Rabida offers the Chicago area’s only National Committee for Quality Assurance certified Children’s Medical Home â€" an approach to providing primary care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective. La Rabida offers a variety of primary care programs for children up to 18 years of age with special needs and disabilities, including the Failure to Thrive program for children with feeding and growth issues, the Premier Kids program for children with disabilities from birth to age five, and the Chronic Illness and Developmental Disabilities Clinic.
Rehabilitative and Developmental Services
Offered on both an inpatient and outpatient basis, La Rabida rehabilitation programs help children accomplish the tasks of childhood such as playing, exploring, communicating, and completing tasks independently. For children who have experienced disabilities from brain injury, burns, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, Down syndrome, feeding delays and disorders, stroke, or severe chronic illness, La Rabida offers intensive inpatient rehabilitation with a strong team approach. The medical team includes a pediatric physiatrist (a doctor specializing in childhood disabilities), physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists and infant development specialists.
Sickle Cell Disease
La Rabida, in partnership with the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital specializes in the treatment of sickle cell disease and offers comprehensive, family oriented care on either an inpatient or outpatient basis. The medical team includes a pediatric hematologist (doctors who specialize in diseases of the blood), nurse practitioners, child psychologists, and licensed social workers. The team provides inpatient and outpatient treatment, urgent treatment, education, and counseling.
Spasticity
Spasticity is a disorder of the central nervous system often present in children with cerebral palsy or an acquired brain injury. It causes muscles to tighten and interferes with movement. The medical team at La Rabida includes a pediatric physiatrist (a physician who specializes in the care of children with disabilities), clinical nurse specialists, and physical therapists. The treatment plan may include physical and/or occupational therapy, serial casting, oral medication or botox injections. The team may refer the child for placement of an intrathecal Baclofen pump or other tone-reducing surgery and will evaluate the need for orthopedic interventions with rehabilitative follow-up options.
Technology Dependency
During treatment, many patients require life-sustaining technology, such as ventilators and IV feeding lines. As their condition improves, often they are ready to leave the ICU but cannot be immediately discharged home. La Rabida is an expert in providing comprehensive inpatient services that help children return home to their family. The hospital specializes in transitioning children from an intensive care setting to home or a long-term care facility, applying for home-care waivers, training the family to care for the child at home, and complicated family situations. The medical team includes a pediatric pulmonologist, pediatricians, nurse clinicians and nurse specialists, respiratory therapists, physical, occupational and speech therapists, infant development specialists, social workers, nutritionists, and case managers.
References
External links
- Official website
- International Burn Support Groups/Organizations and Burn Camps Database
