May 17, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Dr. Stubbs has dedicated the past two decades of his life to bringing much-needed technology — like chocolate-milk transfusions, red-nose transplants, and “kitty CAT” scans — to pediatric hospital wards around the country.
“Dr. Stubbs” is Michael Christensen, the creator of Clown Care, a community program of New York’s Big Apple Circus, which Mr. Christensen also helped found.
In 1986, Mr. Christensen and members of his circus troupe began clowning for sick kids at NewYork-Presbyterian’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. Now, Clown Care’s 93 clown “doctors” make their rounds at 18 hospitals in eight states and the District of Columbia. Alumni have created similar programs all over the world.
Mr. Christensen’s troupe tries to demystify medical procedures that young patients may find confusing and scary.
Clown Care’s “doctors” don’t noisily demand attention, he says. Instead, they enter the ward slowly, perhaps softly strumming a ukulele or blowing bubbles, and gauge the children’s reaction. As the kids warm up, the clowns begin to engage them with songs, puppets, juggling, and jokes.
“We’re not those pushy, neurotic people who feel compelled to perform,” Mr. Christensen says. “We’re not insisting. It’s very gentle.”
But sometimes clowns need doctoring too: Clown Care offers a monthly therapy session for its artists, a protection against the stressful situations they encounter in the pediatric wards. “Day after day, week after week, that can take a toll,” Mr. Christensen says.
The clowns also prepare for their assignments with a intensive training and a six-month apprenticeship, learning hospital rules and how to relate to the children, as well as brushing up their shtick.
Clown Care’s annual $1.5-million in private donations and foundation grants supports stipends for its clown “doctors” and five administrators.
