Children's Memorial (New) Hospital Update (& blatant appeal!)

Many of you (who live in Chicago) may already know that Children's Memorial Hospital is in the midst of planning an incredible improvement to our plant and facilities--we will be building a brand new hospital, adjacent to the new Prentiss Women's Hospital at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. CMH will remain a completely independent entity, but the proximity to NMH will benefit patients in terms of proximity for research collaboration as well as the maternity ward.

Once the hospital opens in 2012, mom like me will not have to be miles away from their children while mom recovers from birth and newborn gets critical care.

Kids like Charlotte will benefit greatly from having pediatricians able to easily collaborate with adult specialists. As care and corrections for congential heart defects has improved, the U.S. now has more adults with CHD than children. As I've heard a lot of heart folks say, "It's a great problem to have!" And it means we need to learn more about how to ease kids like ours into adulthood.

Here are some specs on the new hospital:
- There will be 276 inpatient beds in the new hospital. That is a 12% increase from quantity of beds now. However, it will give us a 25-30% increase in Patient Day Capacity. This is because all of the rooms are private - therefore, there will be no restrictions on who can occupy a room.

- Each new room will be 290 square feet and private - with room for the patient, their families and the doctors/nurses. Currently, the rooms are 125
square feet with multiple beds. Huge improvement!!

- There will be 25 procedure rooms - compared with 20 today. There will be
42 bay emergency rooms - compared to 26 today.

- The hospital will be 21 stories. There will be a sky lobby on around the 14th floor. There will be an outside garden area.

An endeavor like this is impossible without philanthropy. Please think about clicking here and participating in this amazing improvement for our already incredible pediatric care in Chicago. There is an area where you can "earmark" your donation for the new hospital or any medical service that compels you.