Skip to main content

Donations provide fun transport for patients

When a child is stuck in the hospital, a simple change of scenery can make a big difference in how they feel. Patients, however, are not always able to move about the hospital or get out of bed. For the past two years, donations to Children’s Miracle Network at Geisinger have helped fund special wagons for kids to use during their stay or visit at Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital.

Wunderwagons, bright and fun animal-shaped wagons, are becoming the mode of transportation for pediatric patients at Geisinger. The wagons are made of medical-grade composite, making them easy to clean, and they are in fun shapes of animals, reptiles, fish and insects.

“Kids are scared enough when they are admitted to the hospital.  Doing something fun that they may already do at home, like going for a wagon ride, is often times reassuring to these anxious children,” said Paul Bellino MD, chairman of Children’s Miracle Network at Geisinger.  “The Wunderwagons allow kids and parents to have some diversion from the sometimes boring and uneasy periods spent in the hospital. We use these wagons to transport children to procedures or tests in a way that is not threatening.”

The popular wagons were first made available for the surgical units and the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), but this year, donations will make them available for patients staying on the second and third floor of the children’s hospital as well. The wagons can also have an IV trailer attached to allow patients, families and Child Life staff to use the wagons with an IV pole in tow.

“Since these wagons are spacious and have high side walls, we are better able to position children that have special support needs in ways that are not possible in traditional wagons,” Dr. Bellino added.