Sacred Heart Health System, Pensacola Florida, part of the Ascension Gulf Coast Ministry Market, plans to care for a new generation of children at a new five-story Children's Hospital. The project, which will begin construction in early 2016, includes a major expansion to women's services.
The Children's Hospital at Sacred Heart is the region's only children's hospital, serving families across Northwest Florida, South Alabama and South Georgia. The expanded Children's Hospital will allow the hospital to provide care for more children, increase access to specialized pediatric and maternity care, and consolidate pediatric services in one convenient location.
"Specialized healthcare for children and women has been in high demand, and the need is growing," said Susan Davis, Senior Vice President, Ascension Health/Gulf Coast Ministry Market Executive. "But even more than the number of patients we serve, we want to ensure the experience of those coming through our doors is as comfortable as possible and reflects the high-quality care they are receiving. Our new Children's Hospital will strive to provide one consolidated healthcare home that is designed with a child's needs in mind. This expansion also gives us the opportunity to build a maternity wing designed for a new generation of mothers and babies."
The opening of the new Children's Hospital is expected to add 100 Sacred Heart jobs for the local community. This growth of healthcare services will also enable recruitment of new pediatric specialists.
The expansion is currently planned in two phases. The first phase will focus on the five-story, 120,000 square-foot Children's Hospital and will include:
- Pediatric Emergency Department and Trauma Center, an expansion and relocation of Sacred Heart's current Pediatric Emergency Department, which is now next to the adult Emergency Department and Trauma Center. Consolidating children's emergency and inpatient services in one building will allow for more coordinated care and shorter discharge processes for children. Sacred Heart provides the region's only pediatric trauma referral center.
- Pediatric Surgery. With the construction of the new Children's Hospital, Sacred Heart will add six, pediatric-dedicated operating rooms. This will consolidate all surgeries and procedures that require sedation into one area with a child-friendly environment designed to include family support, all with the goal of reducing stress and anxiety.
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This expansion and relocation of Sacred Heart's current NICU beds will enable The Children's Hospital to care for more premature and critically ill infants from across Northwest Florida. In addition to offering the area's only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, The Children's Hospital maintains two specially equipped neonatal critical care transport ambulances for the transfer of premature and critically ill newborns from other hospitals across Northwest Florida to The Children's Hospital. The NICU of the new Children's Hospital will offer private rooms in its Level III unit, which includes the most critically ill babies.
- Pediatric Oncology, with an expanded inpatient unit to provide specialized, inpatient care for children with cancer.
- Extended stay/observation beds, which will represent a new inpatient unit for The Children's Hospital, caring for children who aren't yet ready to go home.
Phase 1 will also include an expansion to Sacred Heart's Regional Perinatal Center, an inpatient unit for expectant mothers with a high-risk pregnancy. This expansion allows space for more expectant mothers, many of whom stay in the unit for weeks or even months until their babies arrive. Phase 1 of construction is scheduled for completion in late 2017.
Phase 2 will focus on renovating the third floor of the current Children's Hospital, which will remain home to pediatric services such as the pediatric intensive care unit and child life playrooms. New services coming to the third floor include a pediatric inpatient rehabilitation gym and a pediatric satellite pharmacy.
Sacred Heart Health System and Ascension have committed $55 million for the project, and Sacred Heart will need to raise the remaining funds from community supporters in order to complete all phases of the expansion.
Sacred Heart is the region's only Perinatal Center – one of only 11 in the state – and Northwest Florida's only center designed for women with high-risk pregnancies.
Pictured above: Sister Carol Keehan, DC, chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, at the announcement of the expansion, pictured with Dr. Edward Westmark. The two are standing in front of the Founders' Wall, which recognizes both of them, Dr. Reed Bell and Dr. John Whitcomb, who are considered the four founders of The Children's Hospital.
