February 9, 2016

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Remember reading the official announcement of our CareFirst plans in November 2014? Well, as you can imagine, a lot has happened since then. After receiving the green light to proceed, Texas Children’s has made remarkable progress on the Pediatric Tower E vertical expansion project.

The first visible sign that construction has begun is the large crane that towers over the south end of Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. Concrete slabs were removed to make room for the tower crane installation which was completed last December.

“We’re excited to see everything gradually come together,” said Jill Pearsall, Texas Children’s assistant vice president of Facilities Planning and Development. “The progress over the last two months is a direct result of the collaboration among our CareFirst executive leadership and project management teams, our design and construction contractors, and most importantly, our patients and their families.”

Perhaps one of the most significant milestones to date is the completion of the pre-construction simulation-based design tests on the proposed patient room layouts for the cardiovascular intensive care unit, pediatric intensive care unit and the progressive care unit.

In collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Arnold and her simulation team, the CareFirst Quality, Service and Safety Project Team led by Dr. Angelo Giardino, Trudy Leidich and Maria Happe, participated in 32 hours of simulated patient scenarios over a period of four days inside a large warehouse mock-up that resembled a critical care environment. A multidisciplinary team of intensivists, nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, respiratory therapists, patient families and other support staff, participated in the simulation and provided feedback to drive design of the space. During these simulations, 115 latent safety threats (LSTs) were identified. The LSTs were categorized based on Safe Hospital Design Principles outlined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and recommendations will be incorporated into the design.

“We have an opportunity to provide a new space that accommodates the needs of patients, families and clinicians,” said Happe, clinical senior project manager for CareFirst. “All patient rooms are configured to provide dedicated space for the patient, clinicians, all associated clinical equipment, as well as for the families, which helps to promote and enhance family engagement and patient and family-centered care. Simulation has allowed us to test these spaces prior to construction and has guided our design decisions.”

Other recent progress updates include:

  • The interior design concepts for the pediatric tower’s public spaces were fine-tuned with the Board of Trustees Building and Grounds Design Subcommittee on January 13. Once the design theme and colors have been finalized, this will provide architectural guidance to ensure a consistent look and feel throughout the building.
  • A pilot study to test the use of touch-screen activated information stations was launched on the first and third floors of the Clinical Care Center (CCC) for a 60-day assessment and feedback period. Survey input from patient families will be used to refine the hospital navigation tool before it is adapted to other Texas Children’s campuses, including Pediatric Tower E.
  • The technology team installed wireless access points for Voalte phones outside of the operating rooms (ORs). Tests are still ongoing to determine if wireless access points can be added in the OR suite to fully operationalize the Voalte phone roll-out in a manner that does not interfere with the communication of medical equipment in the OR. Additionally, the team will begin testing and reviewing a variety of other devices for CareFirst implementation.
  • The Pavilion Express Gift Shop closed to prepare for the installation of the tower’s elevator shafts. The gift shop will relocate to the first floor of the Pavilion for Women as a separate renovation project. The Pediatric Radiology department’s 3D lab moved from Building E 5 to the fourth floor of the CCC to make way for the upcoming construction activities.
  • Concrete pours to build the floors in the 25-story Pediatric Tower E will continue this month. From north to south, it will take roughly three concrete pours to create one floor.

“We’ve made incredible progress since the initial planning phase began for Pediatric Tower E,” said Texas Children’s Executive Vice President Mark Mullarkey. “This expansion will help us deliver on our promise to make Texas Children’s the best possible place to give and receive care.”

Click here to learn more about how the Pediatric Tower E project will help meet the growing needs of our critically ill patients.