Alex Scott Day Hospital
The Alex Scott Day Hospital, located in the Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care on the Raymond G. Perelman Campus, provides outpatient oncology services and hematology transfusion services to infants, children and young adults. Children who are patients of CHOP’s Cancer Center are often treated in the day hospital, as are hematology patients with blood disorders, such as sickle cell disease, thalassemia, and bone marrow disorders.
New evening hours for oncology patients
To provide clinic appointment times that decrease school and work absenteeism and improve quality of life for patients who require frequent visits to the outpatient oncology and day medicine units, the Alex Scott Day Hospital now has evening hours.
For certain appointments and infusions, oncology patients can register in the Oncology Clinic Monday through Friday up until 6:30 p.m. (with some exceptions, including on CHOP-designated holidays).
New evening sick visits: In addition, oncology patients can be referred to the Evening Day Hospital for sick visits Monday through Friday, starting at 3 p.m., with the last registration time at 6:30 p.m.
What to expect
At the Alex Scott Day Hospital, your child will be cared for by a coordinated healthcare team that includes attending physicians and fellows, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, a patient/family education specialist and child life specialists. Each member of the team has received specialized training in the care of oncology and hematology patients.
The day hospital is an outpatient infusion center. Here children will receive needed treatments in the unit, and then return home the same day. Sometimes, oncology patients will be scheduled to start treatment in the day hospital before being admitted for an inpatient chemotherapy stay. The Day Hospital is also where oncology patients are treated if they are sick and need antibiotics, IV fluids, or other medications.
Our services
Some of the services provided at the Alex Scott Day Hospital include:
- Chemotherapy for the treatment of various pediatric cancers.
- Blood transfusions for children who need blood products on a regular basis, such as those with certain types of cancer, bone marrow failure, thalassemia, and sickle cell anemia.
- Procedures and tests that require general anesthesia, such as lumbar punctures (spinal taps), biopsies and bone marrow aspirates. Your child will receive these procedures in the Oncology Clinic and recover in the Day Hospital before returning home.
- Administration of intravenous or other medications needed in the treatment of disorders such as sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, hemophilia, von Willebrand disease and bone marrow failure.
Family-centered care
We know treatment for cancer and blood disorders can be difficult for both children and adults.
At the Alex Scott Day Hospital, we want your family to feel comfortable, even when dealing with a difficult diagnosis. In the day hospital, you and your child will benefit from:
- Dedicated child life specialists. Play can keep kids busy, help pass the time, and be therapeutic. It can also be used to educate children about procedures and treatments. Our child life specialists are specially trained to involve children in age-appropriate medical play, creative arts therapy, and other activities. The day hospital also has a play room, a TV at each infusion chair, and video games. Music and art therapy are also available on certain days of the week.
- Treatment pods. In the Alex Scott Day Hospital, children and their family members are seated in treatment pods with four infusion chairs in each pod. This allows children to socialize and play with kids their age, and lets families meet others who are going through a similar experience.
- Private rooms. Children who have procedures with general anesthesia in the Oncology Clinic will wake up in a private room in the Day Hospital. Parents can be by their child’s side as they wake up.
- An on-site hematology and oncology pharmacy. To help decrease any delays between the time your child arrives in the day hospital and when she begins treatment, we have an on-site pharmacy for our patients.
- Dedicated hematology and oncology nurse practitioners. To help answer any questions or concerns you may have about your child’s treatments and procedures, there are always dedicated nurse practitioners available for both hematology and oncology patients.
- Limited evening hours for hematology. On Wednesdays, hematology patients can schedule treatment during evening hours, to allow for some flexibility with school schedules.