Students Operate on Bears, Get Comfortable With Hillcrest Hospital

Kaley Daley and Anthony Tibaldi were among the first graders who came to Hillcrest Hospital Tuesday morning concerned about their furry friends.

"He hurt himself," Kaley said while holding up a bandaged teddy bear. "Where he broke something, we put a cast around it."

The kids came ready to operate at Hillcrest's annual Teddy Bear Clinic. The hospital invited about 70 kindergartners and first graders from nearby St. Francis of Assisi School. The students were given hospital scrubs and a tour of the facility.

Placing the bears on the operating table was just part of the trip, though.

"They now know that there are good people here that would take care of them if they come in, and then they won't be as afraid," first-grade teacher Linda Favorite said. "They've been here, been in the rooms and recognize things."

The Hillcrest Hospital Auxiliary began the program about 25 years ago, registered nurse Marybeth Mack said. Since then, the hospital has grown the program, inviting nurses from the pediatric, emergency and surgery departments to speak to the children. A few National Honor Society students from Mayfield High School also come to help out each year.

The kids also learned proper hand-washing techniques and got their pictures taken by a professional photographer.

"The whole thing is to come in and get kids to be comfortable coming to a hospital," Mack said. "To not always think that a hospital is a bad place to be. We just like to bring them in when it's not a traumatic time."

The idea seemed to work on Anthony, who admitted that hospitals previously made him nervous.

"I think I might get sick," he explained. "Now, I'm less nervous."

Watch: 2012 Teddy Bear Clinic