New Phase for Packard Children’s Expansion

Trucks, hardhats, and backhoes have been a familiar sight around Lucile Packard Children's Hospital for the past year, making preparations and relocating important infrastructure like water lines. On Thursday, Sept. 6, Packard Children's official groundbreaking ceremony marked the beginning of construction and a major milestone in the evolution of the hospital.

Born at Packard Children's and celebrating in style was little Audrey Harmony in the arms of her mother, Nicole Neal.

Over the next few years, the hospital will add 521,000 square feet of new building space and more than 3.5 acres of gardens and landscaping. The expansion will add 150 patient rooms—146 of them private—as well as specialized operating rooms, family-friendly amenities, and advanced medical technology.
Though the original children's hospital dates back almost a century, the current facilities opened doors in 1991. Since then, technology has changed dramatically, as have the needs of the patients who come to Packard Children's for care.

"The new hospital has been designed not only for our patients today but also for what we anticipate will be their needs in the future," says Packard Children's president and CEO Christopher G. Dawes. "The new hospital will incorporate the very latest medical technology while also providing more privacy and more space for families to be with their sick child or pregnant spouse."

Patient rooms will be spacious and bright, and arranged for families to stay with their kids in comfort. Rooms will have fold-out double beds, built-in closets, large flat-screen TVs and smaller monitors just for visitors, and private bathrooms with showers. They also are designed for safety, with supplies consolidated in the in-room nurse workstation and a sink by the door for hand washing.

Seven new operating rooms (with space to add more) will cut down on scheduling delays and wait time when surgeries go longer than planned. Two of the ORs are specialized hybrid rooms with state-of-the-art diagnostic MRI and angiography imaging equipment fully integrated into the surgical suite.

The expansion will feature not only amenities dedicated to family needs—like private rooms, quiet waiting areas, and age-appropriate playrooms—but space designed to make work more streamlined and effective, such as centralized meeting rooms, storage for medical supplies, outdoor break areas just for staff, and onsite locker rooms and showers.
 
"It's not just about bricks and mortar—all the workflow details have been taken into consideration and incorporated," says Denise Bickert, MS, RN, administrative director of perioperative services. "Everything will be organized more logically, with larger rooms and efficient set-ups."

Children and families who have come to Packard Children's over the past two decades benefit from deep medical expertise and a family-focused approach to care, an approach that was highlighted by former patients who spoke at Thursday's groundbreaking event. "This hospital saved my life," said 17-year-old Miranda Ashland, who received a liver transplant when she was 2 months old. "I got not only a liver but a second chance to live my life. The expansion means that so many more children will be given the hope they need."

To learn more about Packard Children's expansion project, visit growing.lpch.org.