University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview Finds New Home
January 10, 2007 Fairview Health Services announced plans to construct a new home for the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital. Pediatric care is currently separated throughout various floors on the University and Riverside campuses. This $175 million addition to the Riverside campus in Minneapolis will unify pediatric care and create an efficient and comfortable environment for patients and families.
Set to open in 2010, this new location will house some of the leading pediatric clinical programs in the country, including organ transplantation, blood and marrow transplants, cancer treatment and heart surgery. The Birthplace and neonatal intensive care unit will undergo extensive updates, but will remain in their current location on the Riverside East campus. A skyway and tunnel system will connect the new pediatric addition to the updated maternity units. Adult care will also be consolidated to the university campus with the addition of the new pediatric care facility.
Fairview’s plan for the state-of-the-art pediatric unit is part of a $1 billion investment in modernizing the University campus as well as Fairview community facilities and programs. Dr. Gordon Alexander, president of the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview and Board of Regents representative, states “We know over the next 10 years we have to regenerate the entire enterprise…We know, for instance, that the clinics need to be replaced. We knew we’d be starting with the children.”
The new University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview will be able to house 207 patients, and will include four new operating rooms equipped with the latest surgical technology. The hospital will also have a separate pediatric emergency room. These developments will streamline patient care and make the hospital more efficient. Fairview president and CEO David R. Page explained, “This building will bring our case specialists together in closer proximity, allowing patients, families, and clinicians the ability to interact much more easily.”
The 185,000-square-foot facility is designed specifically for the comfort of patients and families. Dr. Gordon Alexander stated that “Some of these kids are (hospitalized) for weeks or even months. It’s really critical that they have the ability to control whatever they can in their environment.” A new family retreat area will be equipped with pantries, closets, and beds to make overnight stays more comfortable. The new patient rooms will adopt the latest clinical innovations and efficiencies, as well as feature a new room-size “magic wall” with three LCD screens for movies, video games, internet access, and a bedside-controlled roof-camera.
Most of the costs for the facility will be covered by Fairview and financed through bonds, with the remainder to be financed from other sources, including philanthropy. The facility will be built on land currently used as a parking lot, at 25th Avenue South and Riverside Avenue. Replacement parking will be added as necessary. There are no job losses expected by this expansion.
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