Catholic Health Services’s (CHS) Good Samaritan Pediatric Sleep Center in Babylon, NY, has reopened following an extensive renovation project.

While most sleep centers in the nation see adults and pediatric patients in the same location and setting, Good Samaritan Pediatric Sleep Center is devoted to the treatment of children in need of sleep studies. A dedicated sleep center for adults is located on the campus of Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip.

The 4-bed center now features new furniture, child-friendly artwork, freshly painted walls, colorful linens, and an animal theme on the door of each room. Other amenities include a sleep area for parents, large televisions in each room, updated lighting, and new window treatments.

Dedicated to helping children who are experiencing disrupted sleep, experts at the Good Samaritan Pediatric Sleep Center said up to 5% of youngsters have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Common symptoms of OSA include snoring, pauses in breathing, mouth breathing, restless sleep, teeth grinding, and bedwetting. Untreated, OSA can impact proper weight gain and growth and lead to behavioral and learning problems.

“Sleep is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle and early detection and treatment of sleep disorders is very important for a child’s health and well-being,” says the Center’s Pediatric Medical Director and Pediatric Pulmonologist Dmitriy Vaysman, MD, in a release. “Studies have shown that children who get an adequate amount of sleep regularly have improved attention, behavior, memory, and mental and physical health.”

Diagnosis of childhood sleep issues is done through a consultation with a sleep specialist and then an overnight stay for testing in one of the sleep center rooms. Parents stay with their child.

“Most people only think of adults when discussing sleep services, but children should not be snoring on a nightly basis,” says CHS’s director of sleep services Brendan Duffy, RPSGT, in a release. “Our pediatric sleep center is available to Long Island families to allow our children to get the treatment they need.”