Construction on the expansion of the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital will begin in 2009 Information and Media Relations Officer Laurie Holloway said in a recent medical center news release.
When completed, the 400,000-square-foot facility will be connected to the Monroe Carell Jr. Hospital.
Holloway also said the addition will expand Vanderbilt's obstetrics program with 64 new beds, including 48 rooms for pregnant women and new mothers and another 16 labor and delivery rooms. There will also be three obstetric operating rooms.
The pediatric expansion will include 10 new operating rooms and 190 new beds. Ninety of those beds will be used for medical/surgical care, which will help relieve the space crunch at the Children's Hospital according to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Holloway said the facility will accommodate a critical demand for expansion in the obstetrics sector by nearly doubling the working accommodating for mothers and children at Vanderbilt.
The family of the late Monroe Carell Jr. - namesake of the current facility - pledged $20 million toward the $45 million fundraising goal of The Campaign for Children and Mothers on Sept. 11.
According to Dr. Harry Jacobson, vice chancellor for Health Affairs for Vanderbilt Medical Center, the family's generosity follows their long-standing partnership with the hospital.
Holloway said construction is scheduled for completion in 2012.
by Samantha Smith
