June 18, 2010
MEDICAL CITY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL EXPANDS STATE-OF-THE-ART PEDIATRIC FACILITY
New Tower Adds 129 Additional Beds Specializing in Pediatric Care

"Medical City's Children's Hospital will soon open its new state-of-the-art tower, as part of a $212 million campus-wide expansion and renovation project.  The new tower will immediately add 61 beds to the hospital's existing 129 beds specializing in pediatric care, for a total of 190 beds.

The new 109,000-square-foot tower will include a 23-bed neonatal intensive care unit, a 12-bed Congenital Heart Surgery unit, along with 26 other beds devoted to pediatric intensive care, cancer and craniofacial surgery once the expansion is complete.  The children's hospital expansion also includes a 21-bed day surgery/outpatient center.

 
STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY FOR PEDIATRIC SPECIALITIES

Maximum efficiency and seamless patient service were prime considerations in the tower's design plan.  For example, the heart surgery rooms were designed so that procedures can be easily performed in the room itself, including the ability to move a child's bed if the surgery needs to be performed elsewhere.

Medical City is also the only hospital in North Texas where a mother facing a high-risk pregnancy can deliver her baby in the same facility that can treat and attend to all the critical needs of both mom and baby.

"Our medical and nursing staff has always provided world-class care to our pediatric community, but we believe that this dramatic new tower will allow us to meet the healthcare needs of the expanding pediatric population in the D/FW area," said John O'Neill, CEO of Medical City Children's Hospital.  "For the past 25 years, our physicians have treated thousands of patients from more than 75 countries.  Our new children's tower will allow us to continue our mission of caring for the complex needs of the patients we serve in a family-centered and kid freindly environment."

"We have always been a hospital-within-a-hospital concept, and now we have a place to call home," added Dr. Carl Lenarsky, pediatric hematologist/oncologist and medical director of Medical City Childnre's Hospital.  This tower sends a message to the medical staff, the hospital staff and the entire Metroplex about how committed we are to the pediatric community."

AN ENVIRONMENT OF CARING, FACILITIES FOR THE FUTURE

Patients and visitors will get welcomed into the new high-tech facility by a vibrant, sunlit four-story glass atrium.  The area features a nature theme with butterflies hanging from the ceiling and a mock ant farm built into the curving reception desk.  Children can also climb on top of a 23-foot-long colorful caterpillar.

The second floor will feature 21 day surgery/outpatient rooms with bedside registration to expedite patient flow.  The floor also houses a lab dedicated solely to pediatric glood draws, while a mock operating room and playroom will be available to patients and families to help reduce stress during the stay.

The congenital heart surgery unit is located on the third floor and includes 12 private rooms freaturing the operating room-style design.  Cardiac nurse practitioners are in house 24/7 to care for children with complex heart anomalies and the staff will also have dedicated echocardiogram reading rooms for cardia studies.

An additional 23 beds are available in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) on the fourth floor.  The NICU will be a Level III unit staffed by neonatologists and nurse practitioners 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  The staff will have use of a dedicated respiratory ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) program that will allow them to care for babies with severe respiratory complications.

Parents will also have access to a Family Resource Center, which is equipped with internet ready computers where families can check 3-mail and research health issues related to their children's care.  Many parents usually have to work remotely from their child's bedside and the resource center serves as a brief escape from the hospital setting while allowing them to stay close to their child.

Another highlight of the expansion is the healing garden that will be located just outside the atrium.  The garden will offer an outdoor respite for patients and families and is just one of the many new touches that will make the new tower a therapeutic refuge where patients, families and staff members can be as relaxed as possible during their stay.

The new tower's services will expand by an additional 24 beds in 2011.  A 12-bed addition of the pediatric intensive care unit will bew added to the fifth floor, while the sixth floor will add 12 beds dedicated to the work-class hematology/oncology unit.