Sala Institute for Child and Family Centered Care

Your gift will help children and families experience exceptional care. 

The Sala Institute for Child and Family Centered Care is a unique partnership of children, families, and health professionals that advances the practice of family-centered care at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone and beyond. Sala’s work revolves around the belief that family-centered care—embracing children and their families as full partners with their medical team—is better care.

Sala designs, promotes, and funds new programs to deliver family-centered care. All programs are created through a proven process that includes: 

  • engaging with children and their families to understand their physical and emotional needs during times of complex or chronic illness
  • partnering with patients and families to co-create tools and strategies for addressing those needs
  • sharing the resources and tools at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital and beyond

The institute's vision, research, and education fosters Sala child- and family-centered care, an approach to care that brings together expert medical treatment with emotional care for a child and their family. At Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, we believe the best way to care for children is when patients, families, and healthcare professionals work together as a team. This teamwork creates care that is completely customized for the child. 

Sala ensures that children and families have access to a variety of services, including child life, creative arts therapies, social work, psychology, integrative medicine, nutrition, pain management, supportive care, and spiritual support. 

With your support, you’ll become part of a community helping to advance the practice of Sala child- and family-centered care.

 

It’s amazing how much a simple thing like giving kids a toy to entertain them while they’re in the hospital can do for their health. It’s all about helping our patients just be kids again.

Frances Clemente, MS, CCLS - Social Worker; Coordinator, "Connect the Dots" Program

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My time working with the Sala Institute really changed me. I want to do for other kids and families what the people from the Sala Institute did for me.

Sara Damour - Member, Sala Youth Advisory Council 

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I’m amazed by how much change the Sala Institute has made possible, and how much is still in store. We’re at the beginning of what the Sala Institute can be.

Howard Ginsberg, MD - Division Chief of Pediatric Surgery, Hassenfeld Children's Hospital

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Supporter Impact

Sofia was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after her third birthday. When you're given that diagnosis, it's not something you can explain to somebody. Your world gets rocked. You feel like you're in a bubble, and the only place you feel safe is here.

Elly Blankenbuehler, Mother of Sofia Blankenbuehler

Why We Give

Sala is named after my mother, Sala Elbaum—and I could not think of a better tribute to her. When a child gets sick, the family’s world gets turned upside down. Sala is a way of reaching out to that child and family, of providing help—of offering everything they need.

Trudy Elbaum Gottesman, a Sala supporter, on Sala’s legacy and impact

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