Grand Rapids $286M Children's Hospital on track to provide state-of-the-art pediatric care in 2011

The $286 million Helen DeVos Children's Hospital rising along Grand Rapids' Medical Mile is still on track for a January 2011 opening. So says hospital president Robert Connors, who led a media tour of the partially completed facility this week.

The tour included the lobby/entry, operating rooms and nursery and neonatal facilities – all of which are still under construction.

The 14-story, 440,000-square-foot facility will have 206 beds, all in private rooms that include in-room overnight accommodations for family members who want to stay with their child. Each room features technology that allows physicians to view a patient's X-rays and test information at special viewing panels.

A skywalk across Michigan Street connects to 35 Michigan Street, a facility that includes "parking and 50,000 square feet of ambulatory space for outpatient clinics," says Anne Veltema, hospital spokesperson.

Pediatric services will include respiratory care, neurosurgery, oncology, diagnostic testing and other services for critically ill and injured children. A new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit attached to the existing NICU will add 40 private rooms for premature infants.

Non-medical amenities include a kid-friendly environment, artwork and design created by children, an outdoor garden and room for play and entertainment to promote healing.

"The new Helen DeVos Children's Hospital will enhance access to medical care for children and their families," says Dr. Connors. "The new environment is designed specifically to meet the needs of a child. We have been building the care team for years and now have a centrally located building to provide the very best for children."

The current hospital located at the Spectrum Health Medical Center opened in 1993. More than 7,600 children receive in-patient care each year and hospital staff attends to 39,000 emergency room visits annually.

Source: Dr. Robert Connors, Anne Veltema, Helen DeVos Children's Hospital

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].