MUNSTER | Parents who normally bump into each other in medical waiting rooms and hospital hallways took a break Wednesday to chat under a park pavilion.

The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago at St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers hosted an afternoon pediatric rehabilitation picnic at Centennial Park in Munster.

Program therapists mingled with parents as children played on the nearby playground.

Maria Maldonado said she likes to talk to other parents who have children in the rehabilitation program.

"We support each other," she said. "You don't feel alone."

Her 5-year-old daughter, Alyssa Maldonado, has been in the program since she was 3 months old. Parents of children in the program often exchange information and concerns, Maria Maldonado said.

Although the annual picnic for the program is nothing new, the relationship between the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers is.

The entities partnered a little more than a year ago, said Natalie Conley, executive director of the partnership between Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers.

St. Margaret Mercy opened its own pediatric rehabilitation center in 1994, said Nancy Winiecki, manager of the pediatric rehabilitation services.

The partnership offers therapy -- such as physical, occupational and speech -- for kids from birth to 18 years old, she said.

Jonathan Wallace, a 15-year-old who has been in the rehabilitation program nearly all his life, said he likes coming to the picnics and interacting with the younger children, whom he typically does not see at the rehabilitation center.

"I tell them (therapy) will help you out," he said.