After the meticulous preparation the moment had finally arrived; Friday morning at 9 a.m. the first child, together with parents and nurses moved into the new building of the Center. Diana Monissen, Hans Clevers and Rob Pieters were among the first to welcome Sidney and her brother and parents. Throughout the day, another twenty children and their parents made the same journey and they all moved into one of the parent-child units that had been prepared for their arrival. As the name implies, children and parents have their own room with private facilities. The rooms can be separated by a sliding door. This means that parents can be close to their child 24x7. The aim of the Princess Máxima Center is to provide the optimum level of support to children and parents; that’s why it offers additional facilities. In the living room/dining room, for example, families can eat together and also prepare a meal and there are many more facilities for sports, games and entertainment.
Start
The arrival of this first group of patients, heralded the start of care provided by the Princess Máxima Center in its new building. This group will be followed on Friday, June 1, by all other patients who are currently staying in children's oncology wards elsewhere in the country. The outpatient care, day treatment and LATER outpatients will be phased in after Whit Sunday. Efforts have been underway since early May, when the majority of the research department of the Princess Máxima Center relocated from its own departments in the Hubrecht Institute to the new building. And over the past few weeks, the Academy has been busy training employees and volunteers, new and old alike.