The expansion includes addition of a new 11-storey patient-care tower, which is part of Phase I improvement. High-volume public spaces such as admitting, cafeteria, and retail pharmacy will be located on the ground floor, with upper floors devoted to Centers of Excellence, other clinical programs, and private patient rooms. It will also feature 96 PICU/CICU rooms and 12 more operating rooms.
Located at Thomas Road in Phoenix, the design is partly inspired by a blooming desert flower. The interior of the new addition will be kid-friendly featuring colourful walls, flooring and furnishings in shades of blue, green, red and purple.
Designed to provide a calm atmosphere, the new circle drive and entrance facing Thomas Road, is landscaped with palm trees, grass and a gabion wall. Everything from lighting of the hospital to colours has been chosen to lend a tranquil feel.
The new tower will feature a three-storey lobby and atrium, out-patient services and 24-hour café, which will open in late January 2011. An all-night place has been featured inside the hospital for staff and families with a critical kid.
Other improvements as part of Phase one include a highly visible main entry boulevard off Thomas Road, leading to parking for patients, families, visitors, and medical staff, offering direct access to the new patient tower; an increase from 345 licensed beds to 626 by 2012; adding new programs like PCH Sports Medicine for Young Athletes, which focuses on injury prevention and dedicated care for growing athletes, and the Neuro-Newborn Intensive Care Unit, which offers state-of-the-art care for babies; and growing existing programs like the Children’s Neuroscience Institute, which provides comprehensive care for children with neurological and behavioral disorders.
Additional elements include a Pediatric Trauma Center, the only Level 1 centre in Arizona; an innovative, energy-efficient Edwin and Nancy Van Brunt Central Energy Plant that will conserve resources and save the Hospital $750,000 annually; renovated Phoenix Children’s Julie and Tim Louis Newborn Intensive Care Unit, which at 110 licensed beds is the largest and one of the most innovative facilities of its kind in the US; an 18-unit Ronald McDonald House that provides a home away from home for families of seriously ill children receiving treatment; and a 750-car employee-only parking garage.
Construction for the new addition began in 2007. Established in 1983 as the state’s first pediatric hospital, Phoenix Children’s admits more than 12,000 patients a year.
