Spider-Man Window Washer Surprises Patients at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Tampa

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Feb 21, 2013, 05:43 ET

TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- St. Joseph's Children's Hospital patients woke to a superhero surprise outside their hospital room window Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Spider-Man joined forces with High-Rise Window Cleaning to take on the force of evil known as dirty windows, and brought some much-needed smiles to sick children in the process.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130221/DC64584)

After rappelling down the roof, the webbed hero began his grime-fighting duties by cleaning the windows outside a kid-filled playroom on the 8th floor of the hospital. Afterwards, he scaled over to the windows of several patients who were too sick to join the others in the playroom.

"Medical settings are a new, unfamiliar world for most children, and we thought this was a great opportunity to provide the young patients with a momentary escape from the hospital experience and their illness," said Sheila Keller, manager of Environmental Services at St. Joseph's Hospitals.

Amy Haddon, RN, CCRN, manager of the hospital's Child Life Department agrees, adding "We want our patients to view their illnesses and hospital stay as secondary to enjoying the thrills of a normal childhood, and what's more exciting as seeing a superhero outside your window?"

Rob Powers, who has worked at High-Rise Window Cleaning for more than 10 years, will go back to being a mild-mannered window cleaner tomorrow, but says the smiles he brought to St. Joseph's Children's Hospital today is something he'll never forget.

To see photos of the Spider-Man window washer in action, visit facebook.com/stjosephschildrens.

About St. Joseph's Children's Hospital
As Tampa's first dedicated children's hospital, St. Joseph's Children's Hospital is designed to meet the unique needs of children and their families by providing high-tech pediatric health care in a family-centered, child-friendly environment. Part of the BayCare Health System, St. Joseph's Children's Hospital is the third largest children's hospital in Florida, providing more acute medical and surgical pediatric care than all other hospitals in Hillsborough County.

About BayCare Health System
BayCare Health System is a leading community-based health system in the Tampa Bay area. Composed of a network of 10 not-for-profit hospitals, outpatient facilities and services such as imaging, lab, behavioral health and home health care, BayCare provides expert medical care throughout a patient's lifetime. With more than 200 access points conveniently located throughout Tampa Bay, BayCare connects patients to a complete range of preventive, diagnostic and treatment services for any health care need. For more information, visit BayCare on the Web at BayCare.org.

SOURCE St. Joseph's Children's Hospital