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The Children's Ark Paediatric unit at UHL

The Children’s Ark is the paediatric unit at University Hospital Limerick.

The Children’s Ark is made up of 3 main areas

  • Our Rainbow Ward is for babies and young children up to 3 years of age.
  • Our Sunshine Ward is for children from 3 years up to 16 years.
  • Our Caterpillar Day Ward is for children having oncology shared care with Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin. It is also for children who need blood transfusions, diabetes care and other services.

Our Paediatric High Dependency Unit (PHDU) has 2 beds for children who need high dependency nursing and medical care.

The Cystic Fibrosis Unit coordinates all care of paediatric cystic fibrosis patients. The team work with both our inpatient wards and our day ward.

The Paediatric Diabetes Care Department provides general diabetic care.

The Children’s Ark School caters for the educational needs of children and young people in hospital. As well as activities like art, music, P.E. and cooking, children may keep up with their own school work. There are 2 national school teachers and secondary school teaching is provided when needed.

Play in the Children's Ark

Our play room is open Monday to Friday and provides a fun side to life within our hospital. The Play team provides opportunities for play for all children in the hospital. Our play facilities are designed around the needs of our patients and their families.

The Children’s Ark has 2 play specialists and a team of play workers. The play specialists are members of multi-disciplinary teams specialising in certain medical conditions. Play Specialists prepare children for medical and surgical procedures. They help distract children during procedures and follow up with post-procedural play.

Referrals for specialised play can be made to one of the nurses caring for your child.

All children are welcome in the playroom during opening hours. This includes inpatients or children attending an appointment in the Children’s Ark.

You can contact the playroom on 061 482 079 or the Playroom office on 061 485 066.