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Hollywood Theatre To Provide 'Edutainment' To Patients
SickKids is set to
become the first
children’s hospital in
North America to
build a 250-seat,
dedicated, state-of-the-art movie theatre.
This winter, The
Hospital for Sick
Children auditorium will be under
construction, as the space is converted into a
technologically advanced theatre and
educational facility – expected to officially
open in spring 2007.
Known as The
Hollywood at SickKids, this new theatre is
considered a welcome diversion for SickKids
patients and families. It will provide them with
the opportunity to see first-run films from
major studios and the hospital’s library. The
screenings will also be simultaneously broadcast
on closed-circuit televisions housed in patients’
rooms.
The project was funded by filmmaker
and advertising executive, Barry Avrich, and
will be coordinated by Child Life specialists at
SickKids, who will continue to bring normalcy
into children’s lives by providing them with
a sense of mastery, play, learning, self-expression
and family involvement, as well as
opportunities for peer interaction.
In September 2005, SickKids Foundation
launched the largest fundraising campaign for a
hospital in Canada with a target of $500 million
to be reached by 2011. Michael O’Mahoney,
president of SickKids Foundation, said
community support and private donations help
fund innovative initiatives like The Hollywood
at SickKids, making the hospital one of
the “world’s leaders” in paediatric health care.
“For children who are so sick that they require
hospitalization, SickKids has become a home
away from home.
This can be a very difficult
thing for a child and their family, but it is nice
knowing that because of the generosity of
donors - even for
two hours out of
their week - these
kids can enjoy just
being kids,”
O’Mahoney said.
Use of the room as
a movie theatre will
not replace the
educational activities currently taking place
in the auditorium. When the theatre is
not occupied by filmgoers, the state-of-the-art
broadcast and telemedicine equipment
will enhance the educational capabilities of
the hospital.
Dr. Ronald Laxer, vice president of Education
and Quality at SickKids, said: “We do a lot of
teaching through telemedicine, so having better
facilities will allow us to transmit information
in a more clear and efficient way. Students will
certainly take advantage of the new facilities...
As an academic health sciences centre, we are
also responsible for training the health-care
practitioners of the future, who are going to
look after our children and their children.”
He added that the new facility will also further
the health education of in-patients and their
families, through the remote screening of
instructional videos on vaccinations, houseproofing,
bicycle safety and healthy eating, etc.
SickKids has already expanded its educational
focus through the Centre for Education, an
integrated learning centre that brings together
a critical mass of educators representing all
disciplines. The new auditorium will provide
more space to support inter-professional
initiatives and education delivery, while
strengthening the integration of care, Dr. Laxer
explained.
“Upgrading facilities like these are always
something we need to be doing. Being able to
have the money to do that is terrific for us.”
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