Baptist Health Paducah to offer teddy bear clinic at Kentucky Oaks Mall

Children who are scared of going to the doctor can soon get help from their own teddy bear.

Children who are scared of going to the doctor can soon get help from their own teddy bear.

Trish Edwards, RN, who serves as Chest Pain Coordinator at Baptist Health Paducah, will offer a teddy bear clinic as part of Kentucky Oaks Mall’s Toddler Tuesdays. The clinic will be 11 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Sept. 4, by the CFSB Play Area, near Dillard’s. Children who attend the clinic are invited to bring their stuffed animals with them.

“Teddy bear clinics can help children understand basic healthcare treatments and tools and allow them to become more familiar with people who work in the medical field,” said Edwards, who also is a paramedic. “We want to hear that we have helped children become more confident and less apprehensive about being a patient.”

The free clinic will provide children hands-on opportunities to interact with common medical equipment, such as stethoscopes and otoscopes, practice health habits, such as hand washing and sneezing into their elbows, and learn first-hand what healthcare workers do on a daily basis.

For more information about teddy bear clinics, email trish.edwards@bhsi.com  or phone Kentucky Oaks Mall at 270.444.0440, ext. 102.