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t m c » p u l s e | m a y 2 0 1 6 22 22 interior of the hospital to the conver- sations patients have with doctors as inviting as possible. Shriners was started as a charity hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana, and has grown into a system of 22 hospitals in three countries; 20 in the United States, one in Mexico and one in Canada. Today, Shriners Houston helps children from the sur- rounding areas in need of care. The hospital has 40 beds and works closely with other hospitals in the Texas Medical Center to provide the best treatment possible for patients. "Over our 22 hospitals, Shriners has helped over one million children," said Phillip Gragg, Board of Governors, Shriners Houston. "We think it is great that these young men have taken time out of their schedules to come to our hospital and spend time getting to know our patients." Shriners patients, families and staff welcomed the teams with excitement and cheers before they began playing basketball together. During the All- Star visit, the student-athletes played wheelchair basketball with patients and practiced shooting and dribbling drills. "We set up three areas on our central activity floor for the kids to maximize their experience with the All-Stars," said Christina Hayden, a child life spe- cialist at Shriners. "The main goal today is to let the kids be as indepen- dent as possible and have a great time." Emilio, from St. Louis, Missouri, to show what great people they are," said NCAA All-Star coach Andy Stark of Stevenson University in Baltimore, Maryland. "This is a great opportunity for us to give back to the community and we are excited to spend time with the Shriners patients." The Houston Shriners Hospital provides care to patients suffering from pediatric orthopedic and neuromus- culoskeletal disorders and diseases, as well as cleft lip and palate and patients who need sub-acute care or inpatient rehabilitation. In addition to provid- ing patients with exceptional medical services, the hospital also strives to make each patient's stay at the hospital as happy as it can be. Because of this, Shriners makes everything from the T he NCAA All-Star players had more than basketball on their agendas when they came to Houston in March. Student-athletes from the East and West teams made a special visit to patients at Shriners Hospitals for Children – Houston before the 2016 Reese's All-Star Game. The All-Star teams are made up of 20 outstanding NCAA Division One student-athletes from around the coun- try. This year, the All-Star game was played at NRG Stadium on Final Four Friday, preceding the Final Four match- ups between Villanova and Oklahoma and North Carolina and Syracuse. "We try to get our athletes out as much as possible to showcase not only how great they are athletically, but also Play Ball NCAA All-Stars made a special visit to the patients of Shriners Hospitals for Children – Houston before the 2016 Reese's All-Star Game B y B r i t n i N . R i l e y