Toy Foundation Play Grant Recipients Among U.S. News 2024-2025 Best Children’s Hospitals
October 21, 2024 | Last week, U.S. News & World Report released its 2024-2025 Best Children’s Hospitals list that evaluated 108 children’s hospitals in 11 pediatric care specialties, including behavioral health as a newly added field.
Eleven hospitals that have received grants from The Toy Foundation’s (TTF) Children’s Hospital Play Grants program were ranked among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for behavioral health.
One of these hospitals, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, FL, received a Play Grant from TTF to support the well-being of its patients. Medical play kits, simulation dolls, and an interactive robot, purchased through the grant, are among the tools the medical team now incorporates into treatment plans to reduce stress and anxiety for more than 800 children and families through the power of play.
In addition, Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX, was ranked as the No. 1 hospital in the country for children in need of pediatric cardiology and heart surgery care. To boost its therapeutic play offerings for Heart Center teen patients in treatment or recovery, Texas Children’s used its $25,000 Play Grant from TTF to create an activity room complete with interactive games and toys, massage chairs, and tools to host arts and crafts group activities.
Texas Children’s Hospital has reported to TTF that the demeanors of their teen patients have positively changed because they can hang out and play with toys and games that interest them. As several patients are hospitalized for long periods of time as they await a new heart, providing an outlet like the activity room is critical to their mental well-being.
“The incorporation of play into children’s hospitals is critical to improving patient care, and yet it is an unfunded tool where hospitals are reliant on external funding and donations,” said Pamela Mastrota, executive director of TTF. “Industry support is critical to help fund play projects for next year — and beyond — and improve care for hospitalized children."
From $5,000 to $25,000 contributions, TTF’s Play Grants program is an opportunity for small, medium, and large companies to combine their resources to make a greater impact together. Companies that support the program will receive a recognition of their commitment and specific metrics detailing their impact. Contact TTF staff to learn more.
To date, the Children’s Hospital Play Grants program has distributed $1.2 million to children’s hospitals, specifically those that serve economically disadvantaged communities, and delivered play to 500,000 children and families. Read about specific play projects and their impact in the program’s 2023 impact report.
The Play Grant application for 2025 play projects is open through November 8. Children’s hospitals and health systems nationwide are invited to submit an application through ToyFoundation.org.
To learn more about The Toy Foundation and get involved, visit ToyFoundation.org or contact TTF staff.