Optimizing the Patient and Family Experience
Compassionate Care, Lasting Impact
A hospital visit is more than just a medical experience—it’s a moment that can shape a family’s journey. Through empathy, expertise and an unwavering commitment to excellence, our teams ensure that every patient and family feels supported, heard and valued.
New Sibling Center Opens Its Doors
After seven years of thoughtful planning and collaboration, Cincinnati Children’s opened the doors to its new Sibling Center in early 2024. Led by the Child Life and Integrative Care team, in partnership with the Family Relations team, this new space is the first of its kind at our health system—offering a dedicated environment for siblings of patients and children of adult patients to relax, play and process their emotions outside of the hospital room.
The Sibling Center officially celebrated its grand opening in April 2024 and has been operating at full capacity since then. It offers siblings a comforting break from the stress of medical visits and hospital stays, while also giving caregivers valuable time to focus on the patient.
The center was created in response to growing evidence that siblings of medically complex children often carry emotional and behavioral burdens—feelings of guilt, anxiety, jealousy and responsibility that can impact mental health and development. Studies show that 15-52% of these siblings experience challenges that put them in the at-risk or clinical range for emotional well-being.
Cincinnati Children’s recognized the need for more support, and with generous donor backing, the Sibling Center was born
The center is intentionally designed to meet the needs of children of all ages and abilities. It now serves as a vibrant hub for creativity, expression and connection, hosting engaging events like Lego Extravaganzas, Funny Pet VideoFests, Readathons and musical collaborations with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Impact by the Numbers
of sibling programming offered.
Before the Sibling Center opened, sibling-specific programming was limited to about 52 hours per year.
caregivers have used the service.
They used the time to rest, bond with their hospitalized child, or simply tend to their own well-being.
of children who visited the center came back for another visit.
Some siblings attended daily for a week or more during a family member’s hospital stay.
The center has even provided vital emotional support during times of bereavement, giving patient families the space to grieve while knowing their other children are cared for.
Beyond these numbers, the Sibling Center has a deep and personal impact on families—and even the staff who work there. “Seeing such a positive impact on siblings and families has truly changed my perspective on family-centered care,” said Katlyn Marsh, Child Life clinical assistant II. “The direction of my career is permanently altered by my work in the Sibling Center.”
As word continues to spread, family engagement has grown steadily, even through changing foot traffic patterns in the building. The center now has branded materials available to help families and staff understand and access its services, thanks to a successful partnership with internal design and marketing teams. It has also gained national attention, hosting Siblings with a Mission and presenting at the annual Sibling Symposium.
Looking Ahead
Strategic planning is already underway for a permanent, expanded Sibling Center space—designed to better serve families and deepen our commitment to holistic, inclusive care. Until then, the current location continues to be a joyful, safe and healing place for siblings of all backgrounds.
Safe Car Transportation Provides Quicker and Safer Rides for Patients and Families
In February 2024, the Transport Team launched the Safe Car Program—a way to transport patients who are experiencing a mental health crisis to and from different Cincinnati Children’s campuses in a safe environment with a trained mental health professional.
When Kelly Besl, MSN, RN, director of the Transport Team, and Eric Mailloux, MSN, RN, BS assistant vice president of Patient Services in Emergency and Transport, began their new roles, they were presented with the ever-increasing data of a growing number of mental health transports and the idea of a safe car proposed by their predecessors, and they asked, “how might we?”
Patients are transported to and from Liberty, Burnet and College Hill campuses, as well as the Lindner Center for HOPE, in a Cincinnati Children’s van that has been modified for safety.
This eliminates the need for private ambulance or police car transports, both of which have proven to be stressful for our patients.
“We are already seeing major improvements,” Kelly said. “Our use of outsourced, private companies is down, which is saving in costs. Our Safe Car staff is knowledgeable and able to build rapport with many of our transport patients—making it a safer and less anxiety-inducing trip for everyone involved.”
With one van, two full-time drivers and two dedicated behavioral health specialists, the team is driving 16 hours a day, from 9 am until 1 am. A second van is expected to be fitted to hit the road sometime in June 2025.
“An important goal in our organization is Access, and with this program, we’re increasing the ease of access for these patients—delivering the care that they need,” Eric explained. “We’re doing so in a fashion that is ultimately expediting care in a more caring and therapeutic manner.”
Patients, families and team members from across the organization are singing the praises of this collaboration.
“Our behavioral health specialists are able to help patients through the emergency room—and the continuum of care, especially during a mental health crisis, which is so important for these children and their families,” Kelly said.
Our Family's Most Common Message to Us:
Our People Are Extraordinary
Words in Celebration of Our Top Nursing Performers
Same-Day Surgery
Quote from Patient Family:
"Everyone was wonderful and treated my child with such genuine care and kindness. The anesthesia team, her surgeon, all the nurses and the child life specialist were all amazing and I am so thankful for the care they gave my child. They really do put the kids first and it is evident that the staff are experts in what they do providing care to children."
CHSN Primary Care
Quote from Patient Family:
"The office staff made the process of transferring records easy and they were so welcoming during our first visit. The doctor was incredibly kind, compassionate and very knowledgeable. She took her time in listening to my children during their visit and the nurse was very attentive and patient. I'm so thankful we have great pediatric care like this so close to home. We were able to get in right away and I'm glad we made the decision to switch!"
Same-Day Surgery
Quote from Patient Family:
"Our Pre-Op nurses and PACU nurses were phenomenal. When I walked into PACU, the nurse was hugging and holding up my very groggy son who was insisting he sit up. So she was holding and loving on him. It brought me such relief to see how well-cared for he was!"
CHSN Primary Care
Quote from Patient Family:
"Our nurse listened attentively to our daughter's concerns and questions, validating her feelings and providing reassurance every step of the way. Thanks to the nurse's thoughtful and patient approach, our daughter left the appointment feeling proud of herself rather than intimidated."
One Year of Our Patient Family Experience Strategic Plan
In July 2023, we launched our Patient and Family Experience Strategic Plan. Now one year later, we have some exciting updates to share on our progress in making sure our patients and families have a wonderful experience while in our care.
Building on the six main pillars of our strategic plan, we saw new innovations and improvements in every category:
Personal – through Epic enhancements focused on more personalized access, bringing Salesforce technology to the frontlines of care to make personalization simpler, and new visibility into the experience of patients with developmental delays throughout our system.
Playful – through approval of a new play deck at Location B, creating animal characters in partnership with 40 patients during a zoo brainstorming session, and our Partner with Patients Challenge.
Partnered – through re-launching our Patient Advisory Council with more than two dozen patients, a new Spanish Language Forum that asks Spanish-speaking families for their unique insights, and a 30% increase in family engagement from FY23.
Profound – through taking steps to address hunger at Cincinnati Children's with enhanced inpatient food vouchers,
Together – through launching the Office of Wellness, more empathetic messaging to providers, and powering frontline ideas through our Patient and Family Experience Enhancement Awards.
For Everyone – through enhanced partnerships with patients and families who use a language other than English, increased access to experience data by race and ethnicity, and adding new languages for our experience survey.
"We have a lot to be proud of in this past year as teams across Cincinnati Children’s work to improve the experience for patients,” said Ryan Adcock, director of Patient and Family Experience. “And, for all of these exciting changes, families continue to tell us every day that it is our people who make the biggest difference.”
Following the implementation of the strategic plan, we also created a Patient Family Experience Toolkit for staff, giving tips on how to delight our patients.
“So often, we hear that it’s difficult to find all of the resources that are available for our teams to support their patients,” said Carrie Romano, DNP, RN, vice president of Patient Services. “This toolkit puts everything in one place, making it easier for all of us to do the best part of our job.”
Stories of Strength: Inspiring Patient Journeys
Explore heartwarming and inspiring stories of resilience and hope from patients and families at Cincinnati Children’s. Each story highlights the incredible journeys of those facing challenging medical conditions, the breakthroughs in care, and the compassionate support from our dedicated healthcare teams. These powerful narratives showcase the strength of the human spirit and the transformative impact of innovative treatments and personalized care.
See the clinicians who helped shape our award-winning patient & family experience over the past year in the Awards & Recognition section.