On September 28, 2023, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children hosted its 15th Annual Oncology Talent Show, featuring pediatric cancer patients performing for their families and hospital staff. The show’s timing coincides with Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, observed each year in September.
The event in the hospital’s Lower Atrium and DiGeorge Auditorium featured children ages five to 17 singing, dancing and reciting poetry, and focuses on the joy children experience when they can show off their talents in spite of their serious diagnoses.
The talent show is also an opportunity for families of patients to meet and get to know one another, and for everyone to have a “normal” evening; pediatric oncology patients often miss out on family-fun activities because of their conditions.
As an added bonus for the amusement of patients, the staff of the hospital’s Oncology department offered a performance of the song “Barbie Girl,” complete with Barbie-themed costumes.
About St. Christopher's Hospital for Children
St. Christopher's Hospital for Children is a 188-bed facility providing exceptional care to children from across the Philadelphia region. Founded in 1875, the hospital has more than 200 physicians who are pediatric experts, and offers a wide array of specialties. St. Christopher’s is home to one of only three Level I pediatric trauma centers in Pennsylvania, a Level III neonatal intensive care unit—the highest level—and the only pediatric burn center between New York and Baltimore. The hospital is a Magnet® designated facility—the gold standard of nursing—and is one of the largest pediatric medical training centers in the country. For more information, visit towerhealth.org.