Parents of children receiving care in the P.T. Barnum Pediatric Center at Bridgeport Hospital have a new place to relax, sip a beverage, read a magazine or even send e-mail. It's Bunny's Café, a newly built, glass-enclosed lounge area named in honor of the late Ida Ellen "Bunny" Jacoby of Fairfield, who died in 2005. Jacoby and her husband Milt established the Joan Jacoby Fund at Bridgeport Hospital in 1988 in memory of their daughter Joan, who died of cancer at age seven. Over the years, the fund has helped the hospital provide a number of items to support parents of hospitalized children, including sleep chairs, a waiting room and now, Bunny's Café. Proceeds for the fund are raised through donations from the public and parents of patients.

"Bunny's Café is a very special addition to the P.T. Barnum Pediatric Center," says Dr. Thomas Kennedy, Bridgeport Hospital's Chairman of Pediatrics. "Having a child in the hospital can be very stressful for a parent. Amenities like Bunny's Café can make the experience a little easier."

Bunny's Café includes an attractively decorated kitchen with full-size refrigerator, microwave oven, coffee maker, café tables and a computer workstation with Internet access.

Bridgeport Hospital established its first children's ward in 1893, just a few years after the hosptial opened its doors. The P.T. Barnum Pediatric Center, named after the famous showman and first president of the hospital board, opened in 1998. The state-of-the-art unit includes 18 private rooms and a four-bed pediatric intensive care unit. The hospital's 20-bed Newborn ICU moved to upgraded surroundings in 1999. The Level 3 (highest level) unit provides the most comprehensive care available in Fairfield County to premature and critically ill infants.