Photos & B-Roll: Maryland First Lady Yumi Hogan Visits University of Maryland Medical Center in Support of Art Therapy Program

First Lady, an accomplished artist and teacher, helped launch art therapy program through her Yumi C.A.R.E.S Foundation; images and video feature First Lady working on "Tree of Strength" wall mural and meeting hospital staff

In appreciation of art therapy as a mental health tool that helps facilitate healing, Maryland's First Lady Yumi Hogan visited the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) Thursday, March 17th, for Creative Arts Therapy Week. The medical center is home to one of the first hospital art therapy programs for children in the state, founded in partnership with Mrs. Hogan's Yumi C.A.R.E.S Foundation and the University of Maryland Children's Hospital (located inside the medical center).

The "C.A.R.E.S." in Yumi C.A.R.E.S. stands for Children's Art for Recovery, Empowerment and Strength. Thanks to the First Lady’s support, art therapy is available to all pediatric patients and their siblings at the University of Maryland Children's Hospital. Mrs. Hogan's visit is also in support of Creative Arts Therapy Week.

B-Roll and Images are available for media use.

The First Lady was welcomed by Bert W. O'Malley, MD, President and CEO of the University of Maryland Medical Center; Melissa Lambdin, Vice President and Chief of Staff; Giora Netzer, MD, Vice President of Patient Experience; Monika Bauman, Director of Nursing; and Art Therapy team members Aubrey Bodt, Whitney Dahlberg, and Selena Sandruck.

About Yumi C.A.R.E.S.

In 2017, the First Lady established the Yumi C.A.R.E.S. Foundation, an independent 501c3 charitable organization which launched its first art therapy program for pediatric patients at the University of Maryland Children's Hospital at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Yumi C.A.R.E.S. – Children's Art for Recovery, Empowerment, and Strength – was initially conceived during the time The First Lady spent with her husband's battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. They had the opportunity to meet so many courageous pediatric patients and their families. The Foundation seeks to expand art therapy by extending the program to other hospitals in the State. Yumi C.A.R.E.S. fosters a sense of empowerment and strength in children facing health challenges, helping them heal both emotionally and physically. Through their experience in the program, the children build resiliency and coping skills that may assist them as they work through their treatment and recovery. When given a chance to express themselves in this way, pediatric patients gain a sense of control at a time when they may feel overwhelmed.

About the University of Maryland Medical Center

The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) is comprised of two hospital campuses in Baltimore: the 800-bed flagship institution of the 12-hospital University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) and the 200-bed UMMC Midtown Campus. Both campuses are academic medical centers for training physicians and health professionals and for pursuing research and innovation to improve health. UMMC's downtown campus is a national and regional referral center for trauma, cancer care, neurosciences, advanced cardiovascular care, and women's and children's health, and has one of the largest solid organ transplant programs in the country. All physicians on staff at the downtown campus are clinical faculty physicians of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The UMMC Midtown Campus medical staff is predominately faculty physicians specializing in a wide spectrum of medical and surgical subspecialties, primary care for adults and children and behavioral health. UMMC Midtown has been a teaching hospital for 140 years and is located one mile away from the downtown campus. For more information, visit www.umm.edu.

About the University of Maryland Children's Hospital

The University of Maryland Children's Hospital at the University of Maryland Medical Center is recognized throughout Maryland and the mid-Atlantic region as a resource for children with critical and chronic illnesses. UMCH physicians and staff excel in combining state-of-the-art medicine with family-centered care. More than 100 physicians specialize in understanding how to treat conditions and diseases in children, including congenital heart conditions, asthma, epilepsy and gastrointestinal disorders. The Drs. Rouben and Violet Jiji Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) provides the highest level of care to the tiniest newborns. To learn more about the University of Maryland Children's Hospital, please visit http://umm.edu/childrens.