The Healing Touch

Photographer Lynn Johnson spent nearly four years documenting the work of the burn center at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh, which admitted nearly 400 people in 1991, some for as long as nine months. She found the plight of the children particularly moving. “They must learn a whole new way to look at themselves,” says the center’s director, Dr. Harvey Slater. “There’s no way to tell them it’s OK, or that no one will notice that their ears are burned off. We do the beat we can.”

title: “The Healing Touch” ShowToc: true date: “2023-02-01” author: “Carl Maness”

Photographer Lynn Johnson spent nearly four years documenting the work of the burn center at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh, which admitted nearly 400 people in 1991, some for as long as nine months. She found the plight of the children particularly moving. “They must learn a whole new way to look at themselves,” says the center’s director, Dr. Harvey Slater. “There’s no way to tell them it’s OK, or that no one will notice that their ears are burned off. We do the beat we can.”