Departments and Services

Care Coordination

Care coordination services at Shriners Hospital for Children in Tampa is comprised of registered nurses, licensed clinical social workers and medical translators to provide a bridge between our patients and families, primary health care providers and local community services.

Child Life

Child life therapists and specialists are skilled in providing developmental, educational and therapeutic interventions for children and families under stress.  The child life department helps children by teaching ways to cope with medical procedures, understand their diagnosis in an age appropriate manner, support families during stressful situations, and promote play and normal child development in the health care setting.

Motion Analysis Laboratory

The Motion Analysis Laboratory is a state-of-the-art biomechanics facility used to better understand how children, particularly those with orthopaedic problems, use muscles and joints to move. The functional movement analysis conducted by the specially trained staff is a full-body assessment, providing information on muscle activity, joint movement, and forces affecting the patient during various activities such as walking, running, jumping, etc. The staff then works with the child's physician to assess problem areas and decide on the most appropriate treatment options.

Orthotics and Prosthetics

We fabricate approximately 250 limbs annually. These devices are designed and created utilizing the most appropriate technology and components to help children achieve the best functional and activity levels.

Our 10 practitioners are all licensed and are graduates from various university-based O & P programs around the country. It is our diverse educational backgrounds that add to the innovative design capabilities of our department as we collaborate with physicians, nursing staff, occupational and physical therapists to achieve the optimum outcome for children with orthopaedic needs.

Rehabilitation

The rehabilitation services department is composed of three therapeutic disciplines: physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. We work closely with the clinical team to provide services in many venues including outreach clinics, camps and other special events.

Seating Department

The seating program is a multidisciplinary team which provides the evaluation and delivery of seating and mobility technology. We work with the orthopaedic medical care team to enhance the functional needs of children.  Our clinical staff evaluates, measures, designs and orders the appropriate equipment for children's positioning and mobility needs. We not only use specialized commercial equipment, we are also able to design and build custom seating and mobility equipment.