At Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital, our goal is to provide you and your child with high-quality, personalized care that addresses body, mind, and soul. You'll find this approach reflected everywhere you look in our Pediatric Unit — St. Mary's Hospital's comprehensive inpatient pediatric service.

The Pediatric Unit treats patients up to age 18 in our 28-bed pediatric wing. We also house an 8-bed pediatric intensive care/step-down unit (PICU). Our specially trained care team includes pediatric hospitalists (hospital-based pediatricians that are available 24/7), pediatric intensivists (physicians trained in pediatric critical care medicine), nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, patient care technicians, registered dieticians, and child life specialists. Together, we draw on our collective expertise to evaluate and treat your child in our state-of-the-art facilities.

The care we provide at St. Mary's is filled with compassion. A child's stay in the hospital can be confusing and scary. To help with this we do our very best to make you and your child feel at home. We encourage parents and siblings to visit with patients, and one adult may stay overnight with the child.

Visiting Hours

Visiting hours are from 11:00 am until 8:30 pm. We ask that you limit the number of visitors in your child's room to three people. Although visitors may bring gifts for patients, latex balloons are not allowed in the hospital because some people are allergic to latex. If you or your child's guest would like to bring balloons, please bring Mylar balloons.

St. Mary's provides a sleeper chair and linens for parents or guardians who want to stay overnight with their child. You can request these from the staff. We ask that only ONE adult stay overnight. If you stay overnight and need to leave the hospital, you will have to reenter through the Emergency Department. (Extra linens, shower access, and washer/dryer are available for the visiting parent.)

Also available to you and your child:

• Children's playroom. The John Beverly Rankin Playroom is available to ambulatory patients, with physician's permission, where play is unhindered by procedures or equipment. This child-friendly room is filled with age-appropriate games to keep your child occupied while staying in the hospital. We will also provide activities in your child's room.
• Weekly visits from clowns.
• Holiday decorations including Valentine's Day, Halloween, Christmas, and birthdays.
• Cafeteria. The cafeteria is located on the Lobby level and is open from 6:30 am until 7:00 pm.
• Chapel. If you need quiet time or spiritual guidance, the St. Mary's non-denominational chapel is located on the lobby level.
• Chaplains. The Pastoral Care Department is available to offer spiritual services to you and your child 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please call (804) 287-PRAY or ask a staff member to page the Chaplain on call.
• Newspapers. St. Mary's provides free newspapers Monday through Friday. On weekends, you can purchase the paper in the gift shop.
• Free parking and free valet parking. Valet parking is offered from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. After 5:00 pm, dial "0" to retrieve your keys. We also offer security escorts if you have to walk to your car after dark.
• Telephone. You can make and receive calls in your child's room. To get an outside line, just dial "6." You cannot make long-distance calls from the room phone unless you use a pre-paid calling card. (Telephone adaptors are available for the hearing impaired. Interpreters are available for non-English speaking patients.)
• Television. Each room offers cable television with access to the St. Mary's educational channels and a VCR/DVD player. Just look for the remote in the handheld nurse call bell. (Closed caption television is available.)
• Video Library. A wide selection of video games and movies for all ages is available from our video library that can be viewed in your child's room. You can request these from the staff.

Keeping Your Child Safe

Your child's safety is a top priority at St. Mary's and all the hospitals in the Bon Secours Richmond Health System. The doors to enter the Pediatric Unit at St. Mary's are always locked. To enter the unit, ring the doorbell. You may be asked to identify yourself.

In the St. Mary's Hospital Pediatric Unit, you can rest assured that your child is receiving excellent care in a safe, nurturing environment. We do our very best to treat your child as we would our own.