Recovery and Return Clinic
Return to school, work and life routines after a stay in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) takes time. The Recovery and Return (R2) Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is a team that supports your child and your family during this process.
The R2 Clinic supports children and families during recovery from pediatric cardiac arrest, traumatic brain injury and other critical illnesses. Our team will help you identify and manage common physical, neurologic and behavioral problems that your child may experience after a PICU stay and upon returning home.
Conditions we treat
The R2 Clinic is for children staying in the PICU who have experienced:
-
cardiac arrest - traumatic brain injury (TBI)
-
sepsis - acute respiratory distress syndrome
- any prolonged PICU stays
Why choose the Recovery and Return Clinic
CHOP’s R2 Clinic is a unique collaboration between the Cardiac Center, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, and many subspecialties. Together, we provide all the services your child may need following cardiac arrest.
Meet your team
Our team includes experts in Critical Care Medicine, Rehabilitation Medicine, Neuropsychology and Neurology.
Our locations
The R2 Clinic takes place in CHOP’s Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care, 3500 Civic Center Blvd. (across the street from Main Hospital, Philadelphia Campus).
R2 Clinic resources
Children recovering from a critical illness may need additional support. For more information, see After PICU, which contains resources for families transitioning home after a hospital stay.
How we serve you
The road to recovery and returning to routines after cardiac arrest, traumatic brain injury or other critical illnesses can be challenging. Our team is here to help your family and provide resources as you navigate this journey.
Our team gets to know your family while your child is in the PICU. We will follow up with check-ins by phone, including a phone call to schedule your R2 clinic appointment after your child has returned home from the hospital. Your R2 appointment takes place approximately one to three months after your child’s hospital discharge. We will call you before the clinic appointment and ask you to complete a few surveys over the phone and through MyCHOP. This helps our team prepare for your visit.
The R2 Clinic will help you and your child manage:
- physical mobility
- endurance
- attention and concentration
- organizational skills
- memory
- behavior changes
- school adjustment problems
Collaboration with specialists
Attending the R2 Clinic is not a replacement for seeing other specialists. We work closely with social work, school liaisons, other subspecialists (cardiology, pulmonary and sleep medicine) and therapists (occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech and language therapy) to provide the care that your child needs.
Some families will be asked to return to the R2 clinic and others will be referred to subspecialists. Your pediatrician and other specialists will provide ongoing care as needed.
Your donation changes lives
A gift of any size helps us make lifesaving breakthroughs for children everywhere.
