Beginning the week of March 8, we will offer the COVID-19 vaccine to patients ages 16 and older with two or more high-risk conditions as defined in Colorado’s distribution plan. Find updates on vaccine clinics at Children's Colorado.
If you're concerned that you or your child may have been exposed to COVID-19, please do NOT visit an emergency or urgent care location. Instead, call your doctor or our free ParentSmart Healthline at 720-777-0123 for guidance.
In life-threatening emergencies, find the emergency room location nearest you. For non-life-threatening medical needs when your pediatrician is unavailable, visit one of our urgent care locations.
To help inform you about the latest coronavirus (COVID-19) updates, experts from Children's Colorado have gathered information from local and national health authorities.
"These families need more comprehensive care: both while in the hospital and after they leave. That’s what this program is for." — Jeff Darst, MD, Medical Director, Heart Institute Wellness Program
At the Children’s Hospital Colorado Heart Institute, we support patients and families in navigating and understanding their child’s medical diagnosis. We are also committed to fostering overall wellness and quality of life for infants, children, adolescents and young adults.
Team members from our Heart Institute Wellness Program are available to help all heart patients and families. Our collaborative team of specialists meets weekly to discuss each patient and develops a multidisciplinary approach to care that will be most successful for these families.
This hands-on approach is unique to our Heart Institute and provides our patients with more comprehensive care. This includes both inpatient care areas (like the Cardiac Intensive and Progressive Care Units) and outpatient care areas (such as the Cardiology Clinic, Pre/Post-Surgical Unit and Multidisciplinary Clinic) at the Anschutz Medical Campus.
Why do we have a Heart Institute Wellness Program?
The impact that heart problems can have on a child and their family may seem overwhelming. We strive to decrease the burden for families through our personalized, team-based care plans. That’s why we organized our Heart Institute Wellness Program: to focus on the strengths of families, and offer ideas and resources to help children with heart disease thrive.
How does our Program help families with child heart problems?
Because we know that most patients find comfort in having a support system, our Heart Institute Wellness Program provides support during times of uncertainty.
Children with a cardiac diagnosis may face unique challenges throughout their development and childhood. Our Heart Institute Wellness Program is here to help you get through the difficult times.
Despite obstacles, most families remain strong and resilient, finding healthy ways to cope and adjust to their child’s disease.
Addressing mind, body and development challenges for children with heart disease
Our multidisciplinary team is available to address the unique psychosocial and developmental challenges of growing up with a heart condition. All of our services are provided by clinical team members with specialized training and experience working with acute or chronic illness, including heart disease.
What services are available as part of the Heart Institute Wellness Program?
Multidisciplinary collaboration
Our nurses and medical providers work together to support you. Building trust and alliance with families is a priority. We will do this by providing medical teaching at the developmental level of the child, coordinating complex care across several medical specialties, and advocating for holistic care that is respectful of child and family preferences.
Social work
Our social workers help families cope with the social, financial and psychological needs associated with their child’s illness.
Our social workers also provide:
Emotional support for caregivers
Psychosocial assessment
Support around new diagnoses and adjustment to illness
Identification of family strengths and vulnerabilities
Connection to financial and community resources
Support for parenting or custody concerns
Crisis intervention
Pre-transplant psychosocial evaluation and support throughout the transplant process
Child life
Our child life specialists utilize therapeutic play, age-appropriate education and coping techniques to help children or teens and their families adjust and cope with the hospital or clinic setting, chronic illness and the treatments involved. Our child life services include:
Preparation and support for procedure or surgery
Diagnosis teaching
Coping with hospitalization
Medical play
Expression of feelings
Compliance with treatment
Sibling support
School re-entry program to assist with successful reintegration back into the classroom following a difficult new diagnosis, heart transplant, etc.
Psychology
Our pediatric psychologists provide assessment, consultation and interventions to support overall child well-being. They address such concerns as development, behavior, emotions, and social and academic challenges.
Our psychologists provide support for:
Difficulties adjusting to chronic illness
Emotional symptoms, such as anxiety/panic, depression, or medical post-traumatic stress
Concerns regarding development, behavior, social functioning, or school performance
Our chaplains provide support to children and families of all faith traditions and spiritual expressions.
Chaplains are available to:
Pray
Listen
Create and /or facilitate rituals
Connect you with a leader from your faith tradition if desired
Explore your sense of God's presence or absence
Talk with you about the meaning of illness, explore sources of healing and hope
Be an extra support when you feel alone, afraid, or discouraged during your time at the hospital
Additional support for parents of kids with heart transplants
We offer a monthly heart transplant parent group to provide caregivers with a supportive community.
Families can connect with each other throughout the transplant process: from when they find out their child will need a transplant, to getting on the recipient list, to receiving the actual transplant and many years after. Social workers and psychologists will facilitate the groups and, when there is parent interest, we may invite speakers.
We're here when you need us with the same safe, high-quality care we've always offered, even during the pandemic. Now, in many cases, you can get that care without even leaving home because we offer virtual visits across every one of our specialties.
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Provider affiliation
Children's Hospital Colorado providers
Children’s Hospital Colorado providers are faculty members of the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Our specialists are nationally ranked and globally recognized for delivering the best possible care in pediatrics.
Community providers
Some healthcare professionals listed on our website have medical privileges to practice at Children’s Hospital Colorado, but they are community providers. They schedule and bill separately for their services, and are not employees of the Hospital.