The Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center is the most beautiful facility you’ll never hope to need. The 165,000-square-foot complex, which is opening its doors in Yonkers this month, is a long-term pediatric care facility for the most medically fragile children in the area.
“We get the kids that other places can’t take care of,” says Brian Harrington, the center’s senior vice president of development. “These are the most medically complex and most medically challenged children. Seventy-five percent of our patients are with us for their entire lives.” Patients are also the least financially well-off. “They’re not just the sickest of the sick, but they’re also the poorest of the poor.”
While new to Yonkers, the center was founded in 1987 by the Sisters of Charity in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. When the need for a new facility arose, they decided to build a brand-new, state-of-the-art, four-story center in Westchester. “A lot of thought went into everything,” Harrington says. “For example, a lot of our kids can’t get out of their beds, so they spend a lot of time looking up at the ceiling. We’ve painted the ceilings with clouds, suns, and other sky scenes to give them something more engaging to look at than fluorescent lights.” One of its most impressive features is the Thomas and Agnes Carvel Aquatic Therapy Center—which includes a pool with an under-water treadmill. “It helps kids who can’t exercise on land because gravity precludes them from doing so,” he says.
