Stony Brook University Basketball Team Spreads Holiday Cheer around the Hallways of Pediatric Units
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| L. Reuven Pasternak, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Stony Brook University Hospital and Vice President for Health Systems, Stony Brook Medicine (pictured third from the right), with the Child Life Program staff welcomed the SBU Men’s Basketball team to Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. The team, including Coach Steve Pikiell, took some time off the court to visit pediatric patients. |
STONY BROOK, N.Y., December 10, 2013 – It’s usually team spirit that the Stony Brook University Men’s Basketball team brings to the court each game, but during a special holiday visit to Stony Brook Children’s Hospital on Monday, December 9, there was a different type of spirit and cheer roaming the halls.
The team took a break from practice to come mingle with some of the youngest Seawolves fans in the pediatric emergency department, and pediatric acute care unit. With presents in hand, the players shot some hoops with these little patients, took photos and had some fun with the kids in the playroom. The team’s efforts brought exactly what they hoped for, smiling young faces and holiday joy.
During the team’s visit, coach Steve Pikiell presented L. Reuven Pasternak, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Stony Brook University Hospital and Vice President for Health Systems, Stony Brook Medicine, with a Stony Brook University Athletics ‘family-4-pack’ of tickets to each SBU Men’s Basketball home game to kids and their families who are currently admitted or who have been discharged from the Children’s Hospital. Coach Pikiell is no stranger to generous donations; he and his family donated $25,000 in May of 2012 to Stony Brook Children’s that was then matched by an anonymous donor, raising the value to $50,000.
About Stony Brook Children’s Hospital:
Established in June 2010, Stony Brook Children’s Hospital is Suffolk County’s only children’s hospital. More than 7,000 children and adolescents are admitted each year. Stony Brook Children’s operates 100 pediatric beds and has more than 140 full-time pediatric physicians and surgeons in 30 different specialties and over 200 voluntary pediatric faculty members. The hospital is the Level 4 Regional Perinatal Center for our area and has a Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It is home to the nation’s first Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center and also offers a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Program, Pediatric Cardiology Program, Pediatric HIV and AIDS Center, Cystic Fibrosis Center and the Cody Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. To learn more, visit www.stonybrookchildrens.org.
