Now Broadcasting at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital
2 April 2018, Singapore – Young patients and their families were treated to a visit by some amazing animal ambassadors from the Singapore Zoo at a gathering at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) in Singapore this morning. This special event was held to announce the arrival of a closed-circuit television channel, San Diego Zoo Kids, at KKH, the largest medical facility in Singapore, providing specialist care for women and children.
San Diego Zoo Kids is an innovative broadcast channel with programmes produced exclusively for medical facilities that serve paediatric patients and their families. The creation and development of the channel has been funded by American businessman and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford. San Diego Zoo Kids’ programming offers family friendly, animal-oriented stories that are both entertaining and educational. The channel is now available in the paediatric wards at KKH, and will progressively be made available throughout the hospital.
"KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital is delighted to be the first hospital in Asia to have the San Diego Zoo Kids channel as part of our programme selection. This collaboration with San Diego Zoo and Wildlife Reserves Singapore holds special significance as KKH is celebrating its 160th Anniversary this year.
The introduction of this channel in KKH will allow our paediatric patients to experience the wonderful world of animals through the unique programming. This will contribute to the healing environment that we have created here in our hospital. We would like to thank San Diego Zoo Global and Wildlife Reserves Singapore for bringing the channel’s programming to our patients," said Professor Alex Sia, Chief Executive Officer, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
The San Diego Zoo Kids channel offers up-close video encounters with animals, stories about caring for animals, quizzes about animals and habitats, and a wide variety of short video vignettes hosted by San Diego Zoo Global ambassador, Rick Schwartz and San Diego Zoo Kids host, Olivia Degn. Viewers can see video from the San Diego Zoo’s famous Panda Cam and other online cameras, as well as content from other accredited zoos and aquariums.
"The stories we tell on the San Diego Zoo Kids channel not only entertain children and their families during what can be a stressful time, but hopefully inspire a new generation to appreciate wildlife and their natural habitats," said Douglas G. Myers, president and chief executive officer, San Diego Zoo Global. "We have heard from several doctors, nurses, and families that providing these animal stories has been a resource of calm and comfort for their young patients."
San Diego Zoo Kids is extremely pleased to be welcomed to Singapore and is now adding animal stories from Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari, River Safari and Singapore Zoo.
Mike Barclay, Group CEO of Mandai Park Holdings, which oversees the zoological park operator Wildlife Reserves Singapore, said: "Our four wildlife parks, led by the iconic Singapore Zoo, have been must-visit venues for generations of children in Singapore. Unfortunately, not everyone is well enough to pay a physical visit to our parks. So we are delighted to collaborate with San Diego Zoo Kids to bring footage of wildlife encounters in our parks to the paediatric wards of KK Women’s and Children’s hospital. We hope this will bring some joy and inspiration to these brave young patients, and spur them on towards a faster recovery."
San Diego Zoo Kids debuted in 2013 at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. Since then, it has been installed in 127 children's hospitals and Ronald McDonald Houses in 32 states across the United States, and in facilities in Mexico, Canada, Australia, Pakistan, and now Singapore.
