Hospital Partnerships
La Rabida Children's Hospital
La Rabida Children's Hospital treats approximately 7,500 children annually who require primary and specialty care to address complex medical conditions including chronic illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, and sickle cell disease and developmental disabilities. La Rabida specializes in the treatment of children who have been abused, neglected, or experiences trauma and their mission is to provide care regardless of the patients' families ability to pay.
At La Rabida, Sharing Notes musicians focus on engaging musical performances and activities, allowing both parties to do what they do best: play! Musicians visit on Thursday evenings for one-on-one visits to the rooms of inpatients followed by an interactive group perfomance in thr playroom for children and families. In 2013, Sharing Notes received the Friends of La Rabida award for Community Partnership.
Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute
at Northwestern Memorial Hospital
The Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital is the highest ranked cardiology and heart surgery program in Illinois, and sixth in the nation. Patients are treated for coronary disease, heart failure, heart rhythm disorders, heart valve disease, and vascular disease. Sharing Notes is part of the Institute's S.M.A.R.T. Heart (Stress Management and Recreation Therapy for Heart Patients) program for inpatients, which aims to reduce the emotional consequences of surgery that can lead to poor recovery and prognosis, offer new techniques for coping and managing stress, and improve quality of life and emotional functioning during prolonged hospitalizations.
Sharing Notes musicians visit inpatients in the Galter Pavilion building every other Saturday, bringing a variety of relaxing, uplifting music to the hospital hallways and, by request, to the doorways of patient rooms. Performances have included classical, jazz, Irish folk,
Lurie Cancer Center
at Northwestern Memorial Hospital
The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University is one of only 47 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation. In addition, the Lurie Cancer Center is a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of 27 of the world's leading cancer centers dedicated to quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care so that patients can live better lives. Prentice Women's Hospital houses 90 beds for the Cancer Center's hematology/oncology patients, including a dedicated unit for stem cell transplantation, and 18 beds for surgical oncology patients. The Lurie Cancer Center admits approximately 5000 inpatients annually and the majority are housed in Prentice Hospital during their hospital visits.
Patients are often in the hospital for long stays while dealing with difficult treatments such as stem cell transplantation, radiation, chemotherapy and, in some cases, hospice care. Activities that reduce stress, provide distraction therapy, and allow for meaningful interaction with new visitors are especially welcome. Sharing Notes musicians perform every other Saturday and provide a valuable break from hospital life by bringing beautiful music right to the doorways of patients' hospital rooms.
The Ann and Robert H. Lurie
Children's Hospital of Chicago
The Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago is the largest pediatric care provider in Illinis, admitting more than 15,000 inpatients annually, and is ranked top ten in the nation for pediatric gastroenterology, neonatology, neurology, and urology. Sharing Notes musicians perform monthly in the hospital's Family Life Center and their performance in broadcast throughout the hospital as part of the "Morning Jam with Jim" program on Skylight TV, the hospital's own closed-circuit, interactive television station.
Skylight TV and Sharing Notes are part of the hospital's comprehensive healing process - performances help reduce patient isolation and provide a welcome diversion from the stresses of hospitalization. Patients who are able to leave their rooms can join the live studio audience and participate in games and activities, and room-bound patients and families phone in to the Skylight studio to ask questions, sing along with the musicians, and participate in the show.
