McLaren Port Huron Opens Soothing Levi’s Link Preop Sensory Bay

McLaren Port Huron, part of statewide McLaren Health Care, with the support and generosity of the Wilson Family have opened the initial Levi’s Link Preop Sensory Bay, a unique pre- and post-operative area designed to reduce anxiety in those with special needs.

This is the first bay of its kind in the Blue Water Region.

Founded in 2018 by the Wilson Family, Levi’s Link, named in honor of the Wilson’s son, who was diagnosed with autism at age 2, helped fund the $125,000 bay through donations.

The bay’s unique features are designed to soothe and calm patients, and include a noise machine, light dimmer, tablet to watch videos, stuffed animals, and toy table. The sound-dampening room was also built with a one-way mirrored door, allowing staff to see into the room while obscuring the patient’s view of a potentially busy and distracting hallway.

“The driving motivation behind this bay has always been to make the health care experience more accessible to everyone,” said Eric Cecava, McLaren Port Huron President and CEO. “The Wilsons have been fantastic partners in this project and should be commended for their inception of this very unique and impactful addition to our surgical services. We are excited to offer this room with the community and have them share in its benefits.”

Patients can request the sensory as part of their preoperative planning with McLaren Port Huron surgical services.

The Wilsons primarily raise funds for Levi’s Link Preop Sensory Bay through the annual Levi’s Link Fun Run, a 10K, 5K, and one mile run in Oxford. Funds were raised simultaneously for the bay at McLaren Port Huron as well as for a similar bay planned for McLaren Greater Lansing.

Learn more about the services offered at McLaren Port Huron at mclaren.org/porthuron.

About McLaren Port Huron
McLaren Port Huron is a 186-bed non-profit hospital located in Port Huron, Michigan, with a strong history of providing quality, compassionate care to residents living in St. Clair and Sanilac counties. It has earned repeated recognition for both clinical excellence and patient safety from nationally renowned health care rating organizations. McLaren Port Huron provides a full range of services, including cardiovascular care, award-winning cancer services through the Karmanos Cancer Institute, orthopedic services, and general, bariatric and robotic-assisted surgeries. The hospital is nationally verified as a Level III Trauma Center and operates the busiest Emergency Department in St. Clair County. Other services include family birthing services and the only accredited sleep center in the region. In addition to its main campus in Port Huron, the hospital operates community health centers in Marysville, Yale, Lexington, and St. Clair. Learn more at mclaren.org/porthuron.

About McLaren Health Care
McLaren Health Care, headquartered in Grand Blanc, Michigan, is a $6.6 billion, fully integrated health care delivery system committed to quality, evidence-based patient care and cost efficiency. The McLaren system includes 13 hospitals in Michigan, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, a 490-member employed primary and specialty care physician network, commercial and Medicaid HMOs covering more than 732,838 lives in Michigan and Indiana, home health, infusion and hospice providers, pharmacy services, a clinical laboratory network and a wholly owned medical malpractice insurance company. McLaren operates Michigan’s largest network of cancer centers and providers, anchored by the Karmanos Cancer Institute, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the U.S. McLaren has 28,000 full-, part-time and contracted employees and more than 113,000 network providers throughout Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Learn more at mclaren.org.