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Children's Hospital To Open Brand New Facility

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―

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Children's Hospital has been located in Oakland since its beginning more than a hundred years ago.

In those years, the medical treatment of children has changed drastically, and now the hospital itself is undergoing a dramatic change.

Tim Powers, is the senior vice president with the local architectural firm of Astorino, which is the world-renowned firm that designed the new hospital.

He says the new Children's Hospital will offer more privacy with one child to a room, a sofa-sleeper so parents can stay overnight and a private bathroom and shower.

"If needed, the hospital staff can look into the room. The patient does have control as to whether these blinds are opened or closed. So there are certain levels or privacy that can be achieved," says Powers. "Now, if the medical staff needs to look in from the outside, they also have access to these little rollers that permit them to open the shades and look into the condition of the patient.

"One of the problems with the current hospital is that it is overcrowded and not really sized properly or organized properly to handle the patient flow," says Powers.

Also, with the current facility, everyone must use the main entrance drive off of Fifth Avenue. But at the new hospital, there are separate entrances and parking for visitors, both outpatients and ambulances.

The emergency department, where last year they handled 60,000 cases, is also less cramped. The new Children's Hospital will have 41 rooms to evaluate patients from minor to critical injuries.

There are three trauma rooms where doctors could even perform emergency surgery if necessary. And if a child is in need of continued critical care, they are treated in the intensive care unit.

The new intensive care units have one child to a room with a private bathroom and a larger room nearby that allows a parent getaway.

Also, for those children who are not in intensive care, but who must stay in the hospital, there are playrooms.

"They're what we call 'medical free units.' So when a child is in here playing, doctors and nurses, you know, can't come in here and talk about their condition," says Eric Hess, Children's Hospital vice president and project executive. "This is like a safe haven for them to have fun and be a kid."

Hess says the hospital is also very proud of the sixth floor where there are classrooms, a music therapy center, a children's library, an adult resource center and a professional resource center.

But the highlight of the family resource center is an atrium that will serve as an activity center, which can turn into a movie theater for the patients.

"So, kids in patient rooms can come out on the 7th, 8th and 9th floors and pull a chair up and actually watch the movie from higher up in the building and this whole space becomes a very active, live experience," adds Hess. "I believe that this is an architectural feature which distinguishes Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh from any other facility in the world."

Most of the children who come to Children's Hospital come in on an outpatient basis. Last year, officials say there were more than 500,000 outpatient visits alone.

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