Superhero Window Washers Surprised Children Outside Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital

Watching a window washer clean the windows outside your hospital room while dangling high above the ground would probably be a bit of a pick-me-up for any sick child. But when the window washer is also a superhero, well, that’s even better.

Window cleaning experts from Performance Services (PSI) Inc., Harrisburg, surprised children at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)–Cedar Crest Monday by dressing as superheroes and working outside their hospital rooms while dangling from the six-story, 89-foot-tall structure along Interstate 78 in Allentown.

Seven individuals, dressed as Spiderman, Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern and Batman, along with two dastardly villains scaled the outside of the Children’s Hospital, stopping at the windows outside each room to interact with the children.

The window-washing superheroes were a big hit with young patients when they first scaled the Children’s Hospital in 2019. Unlike in 2019, the superheroes were not able to visit the children inside the hospital this year due to ongoing COVID-19 safety protocols.

“Having the superhero window washers come back again to Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital was an amazing opportunity,” says Vanessa Gramm-Mackey, child-life specialist at the Children’s Hospital. “The children and families just lit up when they saw the superheroes hanging outside their windows. We are so thankful the PSI crew was willing to come back again this year and provide this experience for our children and their families. Having your child hospitalized is never a fun experience, but events like this can really take a stressful situation and make it a great memory for the family.”

“The children and families just lit up when they saw the superheroes hanging outside their windows," says Vanessa Gramm-Mackey, child-life specialist at the Children’s Hospital.

As part of its commitment to care for children, LVHN opened the Children’s Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest in 2012. Providing more than 30 pediatric specialties – from childhood cancer to cystic fibrosis – all under one roof, Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital was named in honor of local philanthropists and business owners J.B. and Kathleen Reilly in 2018 following receipt of one of the largest gifts in LVHN history. It is the community’s leader in pediatric care and region’s only children’s hospital.