KEEPINGWELL — SPRING 2022 In 2018, Methodist Children’s Hospital became the first hospital in Texas to explore the benefits of virtual reality and gaming as part of the healing process for children. In three years, full-time patient technology specialist (PTS) Alexander Pereira has used technology to provide a positive hospital experience for thousands of children. The program’s success has led to the recent addition of a second full-time PTS, whose position is fully funded by Child’s Play Charity. “Having two patient technology specialists is already paying dividends in our ability to cover more patients, work on more projects and host more special events,” Pereira said. “There’s quite literally twice as many options as there used to be.” For Pereira and newcomer Elena Guerra, a typical day for a PTS could involve spending one-on-one time with a child who may be struggling mentally with his or her hospital stay. Then, broadcasting and hosting virtual bingo for dozens of children on the hospital’s private television channel. The PTS would wrap up the day with a private virtual reality session that promotes physical therapy by encouraging the child to get out of the hospital bed and move their body within set boundaries. A recent study by the University of Utah indicates that video games can be therapeutic and are already beginning to show health-related benefits. Pereira says he’s witnessed the benefits first-hand. “We had a patient who was in our PICU who had lost fine muscle control in their hands,” Pereira recalled. “I was able to bring an adaptive controller set up for them to be able to play a video game. But they needed a second person to steer for them, who ended up being their mom when I wasn’t able to be present. I went out for the weekend and by the time I got back to the patient, they had figured out a way to play completely on their own. It was really impressive to see how far the patient had progressed because gaming provided them a concrete goal. Throughout their recovery with us, they continued to try and recover as much fine motor control in order to play video games.” SAHealth.com 7 Patient technology program expands, reaching more children than before Methodist Hospital | Northeast opens Progressive Critical Care Unit Methodist Hospital | Northeast has opened a new Progressive Critical Care Unit to address the incredible growth experienced in Live Oak and surrounding communities. The new state-of-the-art PCCU was designed with quality, safety and extraordinary patient experiences in mind. The 30 private patient rooms with full bathrooms are large and spacious to accommodate continuous bedside vital monitoring, dual suction and air gases, bedside dialysis cabinets, and charting inlets. Growth at Methodist Hospital | Northeast continues in 2022 with plans to complete a new Hybrid OR and break ground on a new medical office building. Methodist Children’s Hospital now has two patient technology specialists, Alexander Pereira and Elena Guerrero. They use gaming to normalize the hospital setting for patients like Brandon Raine.
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