USA Health Dedicates New Pediatric Emergency Center

USA Health formally dedicated the new Pediatric Emergency Center at Children’s & Women’s Hospital. Plans call for the center to open in early February. The expansion more than doubled the size of the former emergency department from 9,000 to nearly 19,000 ft2, and the facility expanded from 14 to more than 30 treatment areas, including 25 private treatment rooms. The newly expanded center provides more space for parents and caregivers to be with their children and offers sensory strategies to help calm and support patients during their emergency visit. The center also includes two behavioral health rooms and a private space dedicated to pediatric sexual assault patients. In addition to highly trained pediatric emergency staff, child life specialists are on hand to help minimize patients’ anxieties and normalize the emergency department experience. The cost of the renovation, construction and equipment is $19 million, with USA Health having raised $14.2 million through donations and state appropriations. Fairhope-based Walcott Adams Verneuille Architects is the architectural firm, and MJ Harris Construction Services, LLC of Birmingham is the general contractor for the project.