Pediatric Support Services

Comprehensive Support Services for Infants, Children and Adolescents

The Loyola Medicine Children’s Hospital is a fully accredited hospital at the Loyola University Medical Center campus and proud of its continuing mission to provide advanced, compassionate care for infants, children and adolescents.

Loyola’s pediatric specialists, nurses, physical therapists, social workers, mental health providers and all other staff understand that children need to be treated differently than adults—which is why we offer pediatric support services and use techniques and tools that are made specifically for children

Children may need extra comfort during diagnostic procedures, a smiling face to distract them from an upcoming procedure or moral support during the difficult time after receiving a diagnosis. We want to support and guide you and your child through the process of diagnosis and treatment for an illness or injury.

We offer a number of pediatric support services for children and their families to provide valuable services and education, including:

• Chaplain services — The chaplains at Loyola provide spiritual support for families coping with an illness or injury of a child.  
   
• Child development — Our team offers consultations for families, pediatricians and primary care doctors who have concerns about the development and behavior of children under 10. Children with developmental or behavioral problems may have difficulty with communication, taking care of themselves or have problems meeting milestones typical for their age. 
   
• Child life — A skilled team offers guidance and helps children relax and play during appointments, tests and treatments. Our specialist and a team of trained volunteers help children understand and express their feelings about the often stressful experience of being hospitalized. 
   
• Child life play room — Inside the hospital are a music therapy program, working radio station and teen-friendly space with video game systems. 
   
• Rehabilitative services — This program helps children recover lost muscular strength, coordination or function after an illness, surgery or injury. 
   
• Social work services — Licensed social workers provide services, counseling, support and advocacy for young patients and their families. 
   
• Support groups — Loyola provides help for children, parents and other family members to talk in a supportive environment after sickness, disability, injury or a loss.

Loyola also has established a wide range of community support services to extend our mission of compassionate care beyond our hospitals and centers for health, including:

• Loyola’s pediatric mobile health unit is a pediatric doctor’s office on wheels, providing vital healthcare services to medically underserved children in the Chicago area since 1998. 
   
• Our Proviso school program is an in-school clinic at Proviso East High School in Maywood where students are able to receive physical exams, immunizations, counseling and primary care medical treatments.

At Loyola, we are committed to our mission of going beyond the treatment of the disease and treating the mind, body and spirit.

We are happy to provide these services to help our youngest patients, their parents and families cope with the psychological, emotional and spiritual effects of a disease.