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 Valhalla, NY - A growing number of school districts throughout Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties are discovering a valuable resource for therapy services for their students. And it’s right in their backyard.
Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla is building on the success of a unique program it launched in 2006 to bring on-site physical, occupational and speech therapy to area school districts. The program, which began in the Greenburgh School District, was expanded about a year ago and now serves schools in three counties.
Last year, Blythedale’s highly skilled and experienced pediatric therapists provided more than 2,000 therapy sessions to various school districts including Rye, Nyack, Pelham, Lakeland and Pomona to name a few. Blythedale’s therapists also provide services to United Cerebral Palsy in Purchase. Blythedale is the only hospital in the area to provide these on-site therapy services to schools.
For the past 15 years, Blythedale has contracted with New York State to provide Early Intervention services as well as Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) evaluations and treatment to identify children from birth through age five. The number of children receiving those services has tripled in the past two years.
“Expanding into the school districts with an on-site program was a natural way to bring Blythedale’s therapy expertise into the community. This approach is part of our ongoing commitment to reach beyond our walls to offer Blythedale’s services to the greater community” said Maureen Desimone, Chief Operating Officer at Blythedale who implemented the school therapy outsourcing program. “Our therapists also benefit from going out into the schools and working with a completely different population,” she added.
The school therapy program has proved to be a win-win situation for the schools and Blythedale. “By outsourcing their therapy services to Blythedale, school districts are able to provide students with a higher level of therapeutic expertise than what they can typically offer on staff. In addition, they only pay for the services they use, which can save money at a time when schools are looking for ways to economize,” said Ms. Desimone. She noted that the program also includes the private and parochial schools in the districts.
“We have found the highest level of professionalism working with Blythedale over the past two years,” said Shirley Klein, Director of the Rye City School District. “Their clinicians have excellent skills in terms of collaboration with school-level personnel, and they are all extraordinary in their respective fields. We just love working with them.”
Blythedale has the largest therapy department in New York State dedicated solely to providing services to children and serves as a training ground for numerous schools and universities. The hospital’s pediatric-trained therapists are under the supervision of a team of directors of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy who have a combined 60 years of experience in their roles at Blythedale.
With more than 80 pediatric therapists on staff, Blythedale can provide treatment for children of any age with varied medical, developmental or therapeutic needs. Some of the diagnostic and treatment services include fine motor coordination, therapeutic feeding, speech-language pathology, treatment and management for hearing loss or balance problems, respiratory care, recreational therapy, exercise and flexibility programs and cognitive-adaptive skills.
“We are very pleased by the success we’ve achieved in bringing our pediatric therapy programs to area schools. Therapy is at the heart of everything we do at Blythedale and we’re delighted to be able to offer our expertise to the school districts in the region,” said Ms. Desimone.
For more information on therapy outsourcing services, please contact Maureen Desimone at (914) 592-7138, ext. 582.
About Blythedale
Founded more than 100 years ago, Blythedale Children's Hospital has been a leader in developing innovative, multi-disciplinary inpatient and ambulatory programs, as well as a community resource for children with a variety of medical concerns and their families. Through its inpatient and day hospital programs, Blythedale Children's Hospital treats more than 300 children daily, making it one of the largest children's services in New York State. For more information about Blythedale Children's Hospital, visit www.blythedale.org
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