The Children’s Hospital at Memorial University Medical Center held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday to show off renovations within the facility, including the Ronald McDonald family room.
The new improvements include:
• Moving the pediatric special care unit to consolidate all pediatric general care areas on a single floor within Memorial.
• Significant renovations in the pediatric intensive care unit, including the addition of six new intermediate care beds.
• Upgrades to The Children’s Hospital Outpatient Center, including a new infusion room called “Matthew’s Place.” The room provides privacy and comfort for patients who require all-day infusion treatments.
Three new exams rooms were also added, and the nurses’ station was relocated to improve patient flow.
• The new Ronald McDonald Family Room is a place where family members can take a break, eat, watch TV, rest, take a shower and still be close to their child. For 25 years, Memorial has been home to the Ronald McDonald House, a place where out-of-town families can stay while their child receives treatment.
The Ronald McDonald House is located across from Memorial’s main entrance, while the family room is inside the hospital.
“These upgrades are important because we are the only children’s hospital in the region. We know that sick and injured children do better in a children’s hospital, cared for by pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists,” said Maggie Gill, president and CEO of Memorial Health.
Gill said The Children’s Hospital cared for more than 60,000 children and adolescents from more than 120 counties last year.
Charitable donations were used to pay all of the renovation project’s $2.7 million cost.