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SALT LAKE CITY — At Primary Children's Medical Center, they don't just treat children, they give them hope.
Holly Moss-Rosen, a child life specialist, has worked at the hospital for nearly 16 years. Her job is to help children cope and decrease the distress of treatment in the surgical unit.
"I'm one of the few optional grown ups that the kids encounter," Moss-Rosen said. "You know when we knock on the door and we introduce ourselves and I say may I come in, it really is a question."
Giving Hope:
Primary Children's Medical Center fundraiser
For 28 years, KSL Television has partnered with Primary Children's Hospital to help raise funds for children in need of medical care. This year in lieu of the traditional telethon, we invite you to donate online and watch Saturday June 1st from 7-10pm as we celebrate 90 years of Primary Children's Medical Center.Part of her job is to discuss the medications and procedures with children, but she also plays with them.
"We use our knowledge and we use our tools, the toys, to help us create an environment that is more normal, you know," Moss-Rosen said.
She said working in the unit is difficult, because working with the children means something in their body is not properly functioning.
"Giving kids the opportunity to have regular experiences and opportunities for play — it's so important," she said. "(I'm) grateful to have had the opportunity to make someone's stay a little easier; grateful for another day that it's not my turn to be on the other side of the door, that it's not my kid in the hospital."
Saturday, KSL partnered with the hospital to raise funds to continue services like Moss-Rosen's. KSL viewers donated $3.5 million to the hospital, exceeding last year's donations of $2.7 million.
