ChildrenÔÇÖs Memorial Hospital

Breaking new ground┬áThe Ann & Robert H. Lurie ChildrenÔÇÖs Hospital of Chicago, the new state-of-the-art childrenÔÇÖs hospital soon to replace ChildrenÔÇÖs Memorial Hospital, will set new standards in pediatric healthcare, Ruari McCallion reports. The feet that stood on the shovel that broke the ground for the new Ann & Robert H. Lurie ChildrenÔÇÖs Hospital of Chicago on April 21, 2008, may have been just regular-sized but they represented a huge step forward in child health in the whole of North America.   Since the new 288-bed pediatric specialist care facility was announced in 2004, the community has raised $400 million of a $600 million comprehensive fundraising campaign. One-quarter of that came from one remarkable woman ÔÇô Ann Lurie. Once an intensive care nurse at ChildrenÔÇÖs Memorial Hospital herself, she knows all about the triumphs and joys, as well as the sadness and tragedies of childrenÔÇÖs medicine. The groundbreaking ceremony was enlivened by presentations from some former patients, including 12-year-old Daimhin McGrath, who had surgery at the age of nine to remove a brain tumor. Without ChildrenÔÇÖs Memorial, he wouldnÔÇÖt have been there that day, as he said. Jamira Marks, aged 10, introduced hospital president and CEO Patrick M. Magoon with the observation that he had been working at the hospital three times as long as she has been around.Established in 1882 in an eight-room cottage by Julia Foster Porter in memory of her son, Maurice, who died aged 13 of acute rheumatism, ChildrenÔÇÖs Memorial Hospital was one of the first specialist childcare hospitals in the US and was arguably the facility that established pediatric medicine as a specialty in its own right. Today, it is recognized as one of the top pediatric hospitals in the country by US News & World Report. It is a major regional referral center and virtually all of its full-time hospital-based medical staff (excluding fellows) and a majority of the active attending community-based medical staff are on the faculty at Northwestern UniversityÔÇÖs Feinberg School of Medicine. Each year, it treats more than 113,000 young patients and their families. At the top of any healthcare institutionÔÇÖs agenda while it undergoes a process of change and renewal will be advances in medicine. Those advances bring huge benefits and the possibility of full recovery from conditions that would have killed not that long ago ÔÇô just ask Daimhin ÔÇô but they also bring pressures. Older facilities were not designed for treatments which could not be envisaged when they were constructed. ChildrenÔÇÖs Memorial has grown over the years into a collection of low-rise buildings ranging from 40 to 90 years of age and none is more than 10 stories high. Its total floor space is currently 699,000 square feet and operates almost 250 beds in semi-private rooms. The new site will address a number of pressing issues. With 1.25 million square feet of space available, beds will all be located in private, 290 square foot rooms ÔÇô more than doubling the space currently available per bed and allowing family members greater convenience. It also means that more technology can be placed at bedside, where itÔÇÖs needed. The new site is just a block away from Northwestern Memorial Hospital and its Feinberg Pavilion, as well as Northwestern UniversityÔÇÖs Feinberg School of Medicine for which ChildrenÔÇÖs Memorial serves as the clinical training site for pediatrics. The closer proximity will, it is expected, facilitate closer cooperation and is critical to recruiting leading physicians, scientists and scarce pediatric subspecialists. A closer partnership with Northwestern Memorial Hospital will boost the treatment of chronic and congenital conditions and improve transitional care as the youngsters mature into adulthood. It is also logical to have a childrenÔÇÖs hospital adjacent to NorthwesternÔÇÖs Prentice WomenÔÇÖs Hospital, for which ChildrenÔÇÖs Memorial provides and manages neonatal care. Mothers will be able to remain close to their children who need pediatric care, as they are transferred. The new hospital will be licensed for 288 beds, including 156 pediatric beds, a 60-bed pediatric intensive care unit, a 60-bed neonatal intensive care unit and 12 acute mental illness beds. With the capacity and facilities ÔÇô either onsite or very close by ÔÇô to enhance academic and research collaboration, the Ann & Robert H. Lurie ChildrenÔÇÖs Hospital of Chicago will provide more state-of-the art treatment and the very latest clinical advances.Design of the hospital began in late 2003 and the project has been supervised by the New Hospital Development Office within ChildrenÔÇÖs Memorial Hospital (ÔÇ£NHDÔÇØ) since 2006. Environmental concerns are part of the strategy, with the building expected to receive LEED certification when itÔÇÖs completed, in 2012. Among the ÔÇÿgreen buildingÔÇÖ innovations will be a 13,039 square foot roof garden. Water pollution will be controlled through storm water management, treating 90 percent of all runoff; and overall water usage will be cut by 20 percent, through highly efficient plumbing fixtures. A light-colored exterior will help minimize local heat impact from the building and a specially-designed heating system is intended to make inroads into energy consumption. The building itself will be healthier, through the use of low-emission carpets, coatings, sealants, paints and adhesives. During construction, soil loss, sedimentation and air pollution will be kept to a minimum and up to 50 percent of non-hazardous construction materials will be salvaged and reused, as will up to 15 percent of all medical equipment, minimizing waste and harmful environmental impacts from factory production, assembly and transportation.The architects and designers are working with the engineers to ensure the building is constructed as efficiently and effectively as possible, with planning ahead the main tool in ensuring that wasteful effort on rebuild and rework is minimized.When the Ann & Robert H. Lurie ChildrenÔÇÖs Hospital of Chicago is completed, it will renew ChicagoÔÇÖs leading reputation in pediatric care and be a beacon for construction, management and lifecycle costs, too.┬á