MORGANTOWN — WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital continues to take shape next to its neighbors – Ruby Memorial Hospital and the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute – and is on track to open next summer.
Chief Operating Office Amy Bush-Marone said it’s about 50% complete and will bring 500 new jobs to Morgantown.
Crews are working to close it in before winter – passers-by can see the yellow-orange siding and windows going up day by day – while also progressing inside, she said. The interior wall framing has advanced up to the ninth floor (there are 10) and they’re working to install the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. “It’s really all going at the same time.”
WVU Medicine Children’s currently operates as a hospital within a hospital – filling up much of Ruby’s sixth floor with four inpatient care units: pediatrics, pediatric ICU, neonatal ICU and the mother and infant care center.
The new “free-leaning” hospital will expand that to 10 floors connected by two enclosed walkways – on the fourth and 10th floors – the the main hospital. The bed count will expand comparatively slight, from 115 to 150 beds – about 23%.
But it will be its own hospital with its own own emergency department, cafeteria, gift shop, discharge pharmacy and chapel, all built with kids and expecting moms in mind, she said.
Looking at the building from the front, you can see the 10-story tower to the left and an attached three-story structure to the right. Here’s a quick tour of what it will be.
Entering the tower on the left will be the welcome center, gift shop, pharmacy and cafeteria.
Climbing up, the third floor is “all things procedural” as Bush-Marone termed it: six operating rooms, the heart cath and and electrophysiology labs, the endoscopy suite and pre- and post-op waiting areas with a play area for the kids.
Floor four, she said, is the hub: the loading dock, supply chain, pharmacy, imaging/radiology lab (what’s four floors up at the front is ground level at the back, just like for Ruby). Floor five is the central energy plant, air handlers, boilers and chillers.
Floors six to nine are where the services of the current one-floor hospital really expand. Six will hold the pediatric ICU, she said. All rooms will be private. There will be a family area on this floor, along with a cardiovascular ICU and an epilepsy inpatient unit.
Floor seven will be the neonatal ICU, Again, all rooms will be private except for a few for twins or other situations where infants should be in the same room. “We’re really excited for the opportunity for the families to be able to stay with their baby,” Bush-Marone said.
The eighth floor will house the birthing center. Labor, delivery, recovery and post-partum will all be in same room. The floor will also have a C-sectinon suite.
Floor nine will be the pediatric unit and the hematology oncology unit.
Part of floor 10 will be just shell – room for future expansion. But the front will house an expanded family resource center. It will hold a gaming room; a safety store will parents can buy car seats, bike helmets and such; a school intervention program where teachers can come work with their students; a sibling play area; coffee shop; laundry; and conference rooms for specialists from different fields to coordinate care.
The emergency department will sit in the lower floor of the shorter structure and will have a rapid care unit for non-emergency issues that can be cared for quickly.
Above the ER will be the maternal fetal medicine clinic. And above that will be sub-specialty clinics, the pediatric heart institute and testing, an infusion center and a center for blood disorders and cancer treatment.
“We’re really trying to create an environment that helps our families heal and will be pediatric focused,” Bush-Marone said.
While it will be a separate hospital, the two connector walkways will also link it to care at Ruby when, for instance, a mom has to be hospitalized. Having everything on one campus means families don’t have to be separated, she said.
The current children’s hospital employs more than 400 people now, Bush-Marone said. Hiring is underway for 500 more, bringing total WVU Medicine Children’s employment to more than 900.
Hiring is taking place in phases, she said, with positions posted over the next several months. Openings have been or soon will be posted for administrators, registered nurses, pharmacists andsurgical services staff.
Early next year they’ll post openings for facilities, housekeeping, nursing support, nutrition services, respiratory and speech therapy, security and supply chain.
Jobs will range from full time to part time to per diem.
The hosptial is projected to cost $215 million, with a fundraising campaign under way to raise $60 million of that, Bush-Marone said. They’re about $55 million into the campaign.
“Everyone is so excited to be part of the team that is making this dream a reality,” she said. “We’re leaving a legacy for years to come.”
Bush-Marone said they want to make WVU Medicine Children’s the place to turn to for West Virginians and those in surrounding areas, to help kids have healthier futures and the best outcomes possible.
“That’s really our mission and the whole reason behind building this hospital.”
Tweet David Beard@dbeardtdp Email dbeard@dominionpost.com
