On Monday (June 4) seven current and former WVU Medicine Children’s patients grabbed a shovel and a hard hat to turn some dirt at a ceremonial groundbreaking for a $150-million hospital that will revolutionize the care of women and children in West Virginia and the region.
Hundreds turned out for the event, which featured these speakers:
Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO, WVU Medicine-West Virginia University Health System
J. Philip Saul, MD, executive vice president for WVU Medicine Children’s
Dana Holgorsen, WVU football coach and co-chair of the WVU Medicine Children’s capital campaign
Gordon Gee, WVU president
A reception was held following the event.
“This is our moment,” Saul said. “We’re already the center for specialty care to high-risk mothers, premature infants, and children with life-threatening conditions through adolescent to adulthood. The need for our services is growing at such a rapid pace that the creation of this hospital is a must.”
The 155-bed, eight-story facility is scheduled to be completed in 2020. The tower will include:
Entry, registration, administration, and building services
Diagnostic imaging and a laboratory
Two connections to the Southeast Tower (the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute)
Operating rooms, cardiac catheterization, and endoscopy facilities
A 25-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and sedation unit
A 61-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
A 39-bed pediatric acute care unit
A 30-bed obstetrical unit with potential for expansion
A medical office building, including Pediatric subspecialty and Maternal-Fetal Medicine clinics
All of the inpatient rooms will be private, except for 11 NICU rooms for twins. The tower will also include inpatient and outpatient pharmacy facilities and a cafeteria.
“As spectacular as the building will be, it won’t compare to the miracles that will happen inside,” Holgorsen said .
The West Virginia Health Care Authority approved a Certificate of Need for the project last month.