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Stephanie Blockston discovered CarePages when her son, Harrison, was hospitalized at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore this past spring.  CarePages is a free Internet service that enables patients, families and friends to create their own secure Web page, posting patient updates and messages of support.

"CarePages is a highly valued service offered free of charge to all patients at Sinai Hospital, allowing them to connect with family and friends, particularly ones in distant locations,” said Neil Meltzer, president and COO of Sinai Hospital.  "CarePages takes some stress off of the patient and immediate family members by reducing telephone calls and inconvenient hospital visits, while also creating an open forum for information exchange and well wishes.”

Overwhelmed with the hospitalization of their son, Stephanie and Rodney Blockston were introduced to the CarePages services by a child life specialist in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), allowing them to remain in touch with loved ones without relying on the telephone or being interrupted with hospital visits. Friends and family were able to keep up with Harrison's progress by simply typing in a secret code chosen by the Blockstons into the CarePages home Web site. CarePages offers several different security levels, allowing the family to send personalized invitations to their Web site via email. Regardless of the security level, CarePages service is private and not open to the general public.

"Most patients choose a family member or friend to manage their home page,” said Lara Klick, director of Guest Relations and Volunteer Services.  "In addition, receiving e-mails from family and friends allows words of comfort and support to be shared with the patient and immediate family members non-intrusively.”

Blockston, who posted new information up to five times a day, personalized her CarePage by writing the entries as if Harrison were reporting his progress. More than 1,000 responses were received during the three months the family maintained the Web page.  When Harrison's condition improved and he left the hospital, Blockston referred to the site to help her remember details of his medical history.
 

"CarePages allowed visitors to the site to see Harrison's progression, from the ventilator to all smiles,” Blockston said. 
 

CarePages is open to all patients; however, it is ideal for patients at the Children's Hospital at Sinai and the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics, who often have lengthy treatments and require extensive rehabilitation.  With the recent introduction of free wireless access at Sinai Hospital, patients and visitors are now able to bring laptops to the hospital and conveniently update their CarePages. 

Sinai Hospital of Baltimore is a member of LifeBridge Health, a regional health organization, which also includes Northwest Hospital Center, Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, Jewish Convalescent & Nursing Home, and related subsidiaries and affiliates.