Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota opens Kiran Stordalen and Horst Rechelbacher Pediatric Pain, Palliative and Integrated Medicine Clinic

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota announced today the opening of the Kiran Stordalen and Horst Rechelbacher Pediatric Pain, Palliative and Integrated Medicine Clinic. The new clinic, the first of its kind in the world, provides both medication and integrative, non-pharmaceutical therapies to children and teenagers.

The10,000-square-foot outpatient clinic on the campus of Children's Minneapolis hospital consists of nine treatment rooms featuring a unique range of healing and therapeutic elements for children with acute, chronic and procedural pain, as well as life-limiting diseases.

The clinic's interdisciplinary clinical team offers integrative, non-pharmaceutical therapies including biofeedback, group therapy, physical therapy, massage, aroma therapy and acupuncture. Already one of the largest programs in the country, the new clinic has the space and staffing to double its prior capacity to 5,000 annual clinic visits which will reduce waiting lists of patients referred from throughout the region.

"Our team is committed to do everything possible to prevent and treat pain suffered by children in a medical setting," said Stefan Friedrichsdorf, MD, medical director of the department of pain medicine, palliative care and integrative medicine at Children's. "Thanks in large part to the generosity of Kiran Stordalen and Horst Rechelbacher, our team now has a remarkable new home where it can do its healing work. A space like this has never been designed inside a children's hospital anywhere – it's breath taking. It's an extraordinary step forward as we look to advance pain and symptom management care for kids in our community and beyond."  

There are more than eight million children missing school each year due to severe pain and 50,000 children die in pain annually in the U.S. – and there are only a handful of specialists nationwide who are seeing these children.

U+B architecture & design, the same firm that designed Kiran and Horst's Intelligent Nutrients retail space, designed the clinic to ensure it reflected the progressive nature of the treatment children would receive in it. Features of the new facility include natural materials such as wood walls and rocks, nature photos, interactive art, soothing music, increased natural light and a multi-sensory (Snoezelen) room. The center features various designs aimed at different age groups and supporting specific treatments.

This $3.1 million clinic was made possible by a $1.5 million gift from Horst Rechelbacher, the late cosmetics entrepreneur and founder of Aveda Corp. and Intelligent Nutrients, and his widow and business partner, Kiran Stordalen.

The Kiran Stordalen and Horst Rechelbacher Pediatric Pain, Palliative and Integrated Medicine Clinic is located on Children's Minneapolis campus at 2525 Chicago Ave. S. on the 5^th floor of the tower. The Children's Pain, Palliative and Integrative Medicine program is the largest in the country and its interdisciplinary clinical team is made up of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, psychologists, physical therapists, massage therapists, child life specialists, chaplains and music therapists. The team will continue to see patients in both Children's Minneapolis and St. Paul hospitals, as well as in the new clinic space.  In addition, children with serious life-limiting diseases will continue to receive care at home from the team.   

About Children'sHospitals and Clinics of Minnesota
Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is one of the largest pediatric health systems in the United States and the only health system in Minnesota to provide care exclusively to children, from before birth through young adulthood. An independent and not-for-profit system since 1924, Children's serves kids throughout the Upper Midwest at two free-standing hospitals, 12 primary and specialty-care clinics and six rehabilitation sites. Children's maintains its longstanding commitment to the community to improve children's health by providing high-quality, family-centered pediatric services and advancing those efforts through research and education. This work is made possible in large part by generous philanthropic and volunteer support from individuals and organizations throughout the state and region. An award-winning health system, Children's is regularly ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top children's hospital and by The Leapfrog Group for quality and efficiency. Please visit childrensMN.org.

Media Contacts:
Madeline Riggs
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Kira Bork
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SOURCE Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota

Related Links

http://www.childrensmn.org/