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St. Mary’s should be source of Bayside pride

Bayside is fortunate to have St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children in the community. Over the years, it has built a reputation for quality service to children and been recognized for such on a national level.

For example, U.S. News & World Report recently included it in its 2012 Honor Roll for Best Nursing Homes.

Its Patient Pavilion renovation will be done later this year. While any construction project can be noisy and generate traffic, look at some of the things that renovation will add for a long time to come:

1. The child patients will have right-sized patient rooms, instead of cramped rooms with four or five beds within.

2. There will be some family suites for overnight visitations by parents of the patients, which will aide the recovery of children.

3. The addition of 58 new parking spots on the grounds will alleviate street parking.

4. There will be a permanent home established for PS 23, the on-site public school.

A year ago, the state Department of Health granted final approval for St. Mary’s Extraordinary Home Care program. That program provides short-term, intermittent-skilled nursing and therapeutic and personal care services to special-needs patients after they leave St. Mary’s. The work by St. Mary’s goes way beyond its Bayside facility.

Going further, the 10 “Stories of Inspiration” at its website, stmaryskids.org/stories-of-inspiration/patient-stories/ demonstrate what St. Mary’s is all about.

All Baysiders should be proud of St. Mary’s and the good work it will continue to do.

Daniel P. Doyle

Bayside