Retired Astronaut Visits FL Hospital Memorial Medical Center Pediatric Ward

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Daytona Beach, FL - Pediatric patients at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center in Daytona Beach were recently visited by a retired astronaut. On March 5, artist and former astronaut Nicole Stott visited the children in the pediatric ward at FHMMC to give out postcards that the children could decorate to send to astronauts working at the International Space Station (ISS). Stott, an Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) alumna, retired from a 27-year career with NASA in 2015 which included 104 days in space aboard the ISS. She now spends her time promoting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). ERAU’s Department of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology organized Stott’s hospital visit. The dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the Daytona Beach campus, Dr. Karen Gaines, says the goal of working with Florida Hospital is to advance research-based healthcare. Last year, Florida Hospital and ERAU partnered to create an undergraduate program in aerospace physiology, which is the first of its kind in the world. Students in the program learn how the human body reacts to space and flight and uses those findings to research medicine for “life on earth.” They learn to identify, prevent, and manage how human health is impacted by extreme environments. Pictured above is Stott visiting 3-year-old Duane Jones, of Orlando.

(Stott visits 9-year-old Peyton Combs, of Umatilla.)

(Stott visits 6-year-old Summer McKinney, of Edgewater, and her mother.)

(From left to right: Michele Goeb-Burkett, FHMMC chief nursing officer; Becky Vernon, FHMMC director of women and children’s services; Stott; Tracey Yoder, FHMMC pediatric unit manager; Gaines; and Dr. Kris Gray, FHMMC chief medical officer.)

(From left to right: Yoder; Beverly Chulak, FHMMC pediatric unit nurse; Stott; Heather Campochiaro, FHMMC pediatric unit nurse; and Vernon.)

Photos courtesy of Florida Hospital Medical Memorial Center. Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2018.