UC Irvine Health System
11/01/2024 | Press release | Archived content
Young Fountain Valley patients get into Halloween spirit with pediatric parade
Young Fountain Valley patients get into Halloween spirit with pediatric parade
Children dressed in costumes go trick-or-treating during the 18th annual event at hospital
November 01, 2024
Children dressed in Halloween costumes go trick-or-treating during the 18th annual Pediatric Halloween Parade at UCI Health - Fountain Valley. Credit: James Carbone/LA Times/Daily Pilot
IN THE NEWS: Co-workers, community partners and first responders came together for pediatric patients at UCI Health ― Fountain Valley on Halloween and threw a colorful parade.
Fountain Valley Nursing Manager Crysal Whitaker spoke to The Los Angeles Times/The Daily Pilot about the event.
"The kids are so into Halloween. Halloween, I feel like, is one of the most important holidays for them. I'm so glad that we could bring this to them here."
Paulette Heitmeyer, chief nursing officer, spoke about the meaning of the event.
"It's letting them forget for a minute that they're a patient, and they're a kid again. It just means so much to us. A lot of them in pain, they're dealing with a lot of very high-stress, emotional issues, being sick, and so this is our way of kind of giving back to them. It's letting them forget for a minute that they're a patient, and they're a kid again. It just means so much to us."