There is so much information to share about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and only so much time to share it over there radio. JB Love was invited to tour the hospital and decided to share his personal notes.

JB Note's From St. Jude
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St. Jude Notes - Important

  • No family pays. Including necessities like housing, food, and transportation (while at St Jude.)
  • The pharmacy at St Jude is open 24/7/365. Families do not pay for medicine – for life.
  • Jude’s research is shared everywhere, freely.

Atmosphere Inside St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

  • Hospitals don’t have to be a sad place. St Jude proves it. Their music therapy program is a great example. Children and teens can learn and play instruments, even write songs to express their feeling.
  • There are sights and smells everywhere. There are seasonal hallways; like the outside of registration resembles the outdoors – painted trees, flowers, plants, and the drop-ceiling looks like cartoon clouds.
  • Clinics are labeled with letters instead of things like “Brain Tumor Clinic”, which can be scary to children. (D Clinic: Brain Tumor Clinic)
  • ABC’s of Cancer Wall – Children describe their cancer, feelings, or treatment through art.
  • Teen art gallery wall – teens describe their cancer, feelings, or treatment through art, with a common theme each month. (January was #AttitudeMatters)
  • Jude celebrates holidays. (For Halloween there is trick-or-treating and reverse trick-or-treating where the fun is brought to patients that are unable to leave their room.
  • St. Jude celebrates life events like dances and proms, birthday parties, holidays, etc.
  • St. Jude celebrates and involves patients’ brother and sisters so no child feels left out or alone.
  • The researching wing’s ceiling has flags draped representing the country each researcher is from.

St. Jude Care Notes

  • All staff at St Jude care, from top to bottom, from the people that clean, to the CEO.
  • There is a full rehab clinic inside St Jude – and all the kids inside are smiling and appear to be genuinely happy.
  • Doctors, researchers, nurses, staff, patients, and their families all share the same eating area – creating a “family” sense of environment.
  • The chef’s will even prepare custom foods at the request of patients and their families. Not only do they meet cultural eating requests but they will also go the extra mile to create a child’s favorite food even if they can’t eat it during treatment. (Example: One patient wanted a salad but couldn’t eat lettuce because of the bacteria. Chefs came up with a salad made from cooked vegetables. It had the same taste and crunch as a normal salad but no bacteria.
  • St. Jude teaches parents how to do things like clean pick lines, as well as what to watch for and how to handle certain situations while not at the hospital.
  • St Jude has an excellent music therapy program for kids to learn to sing, learn to play instruments, and even write – all to express their feelings. The program also works with deaf children. There is a music room and the music therapist also visits patients’ rooms.
  • St. Jude is 1 of only 3 hospitals providing in the U.S. providing proton therapy – the first proton therapy center in the solely dedicated to child with cancer.

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