Newswise — This holiday season, children too sick to leave their hospital rooms received an interactive visit from Old St. Nick.
Cincinnati Children’s joined Cisco Systems and CBTS, a subsidiary of Cincinnati Bell, to bring Santa Claus to its patients using a video monitor and web-enabled camera. “The children were able to call Santa at the North Pole and speak with him in real time,” said Micah Dean, a Telehealth consultant at Cincinnati Children’s. “He knows their names and has a little background information so Santa can live chat with each patient.”
Dean also served as one of Santa’s elves dressed in red and green gear from head to toe. He was joined by Sara Coe and Kelsey Loftus with Child Life.“These are children who are here for a long period of time who have been told they have to be here over Christmas so it’s a way for us to bring Santa to them without having to leave the hospital,” said Coe.
Santa’s elves also brought presents, some that were on the children’s Christmas lists.“It’s just really an uplifting experience,” said Loftus. “You can see children who may be having a bad day and we come in and they just light up. Seeing them smile, it makes it all worthwhile.” About Cincinnati Children’sCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center ranks third in the nation among all Honor Roll hospitals in U.S.News and World Report’s 2015 Best Children’s Hospitals. It is also ranked in the top 10 for all 10 pediatric specialties, including a #1 ranking in pulmonology and #2 in cancer and in nephrology. Cincinnati Children’s, a non-profit organization, is one of the top three recipients of pediatric research grants from the National Institutes of Health, and a research and teaching affiliate of the University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine. The medical center is internationally recognized for improving child health and transforming delivery of care through fully integrated, globally recognized research, education and innovation. Additional information can be found at www.cincinnatichildrens.org. Connect on the Cincinnati Children’s blog, via Facebook and on Twitter.
About CBTSCBTS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cincinnati Bell (NYSE: CBB). The company combines the data networking capabilities of Cincinnati Bell with next-generation managed services that provide companies with flexible solutions for end-to-end IT deployment. The CBTS business model can help organizations increase productivity and operational efficiency while reducing costs and risks through solutions that focus on business continuance, compliance, security, and technology infrastructure. For more information, visit www.cbts.net.
About Cisco Systems Santa ConnectionDuring the 2015 holiday season, more than 30 hospitals throughout the US will participate in the Cisco Santa Connection Program. This interactive experience enables hospitalized children to remotely connect and communicate with Santa using Cisco's video collaboration technologies. Through the magic of the Internet, the children are connected over video directly to Santa's workshop in the "North Pole" where they can share their wish lists directly with Old St. Nick. After a personal conversation with Santa, children can join their families and enjoy a holiday party complete with gifts at the hospital. The Santa Connection Program was developed five years ago to provide children and their families a bit of holiday cheer and happiness during their hospital stay. For more information, please contact Emily May at [email protected] or 415-593-8437 or Julia McDermott at [email protected].
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