On February 9, Texas Children’s and W.S. Bellows Construction celebrated the topping out of Texas Children’s new Pediatric Tower in the Texas Medical Center.
Under a large tent across the street from the tower’s 400-foot-tall structure, nearly 700 guests cheered as Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark A. Wallace, Texas Children’s Board of Trustees Chair Ann Lents, and W.S. Bellows Construction President Laura Bellows, led the countdown.
“Five, four, three, two, one, hoist that tree!”
As the guests eagerly watched from below, a 7-foot-tall Loblolly pine tree was hoisted to the top of the hospital’s Pediatric Tower commemorating the successful completion of the building’s external structure.
Chase Fondren, whose daughter Ella was treated for biliary atresia as an infant, shared his family’s experience at Texas Children’s and how the vertical expansion of the Pediatric Tower will benefit other patients and families.
“We experienced first-hand the issues of not having enough bed choices, of the small PICU rooms, and having to fit in the hospital’s current capacity,” Fondren said. “I am extremely excited that this building behind us is going to triple the size of the PICU. That’s been a much needed expansion and will be a huge asset for patient families.”
During the topping out ceremony, Wallace recognized everyone for their contributions and support of Texas Children’s Pediatric Tower expansion. He applauded the phenomenal leadership of Texas Children’s Board of Trustees, our project partners, FKP Architects and W.S. Bellows Construction, as well as Texas Children’s executive leadership team, the Pediatric Tower leadership team and all of our donors who have so generously contributed to the Promise Campaign, which will partially support facility developments for the hospital’s new tower.
“All of you who are here today helped us achieve this construction milestone of our pediatric tower which will provide the opportunity for us to serve even more patients and their families,” Wallace said. “No longer will we have to say no to a child who needs to be transferred into an ICU. No longer will we have to cancel surgery or reschedule surgery because we don’t have a CVICU bed or critical care bed. That building right there is the solution to these issues.”
Slated to be completed in 2018, the 25-floor Pediatric Tower will house 126 beds for pediatric and cardiovascular intensive care, six new operating rooms (ORs) with the latest technology to complement the hospital’s existing 19 ORs, and will be the new home of Texas Children’s Heart Center, including the outpatient clinic, four cardiovascular ORs and four catheterization labs. This expansion includes reinvesting in the programs needed by the hospital’s most critically ill patients.
“At the end of the day, it’s not about the building,” said Lents as she addressed the crowd. “It’s all about the patients and being sure that today, in five years and in 20 years, we can help the children who need the care and the treatment that only Texas Children’s Hospital can give them.”
Following the tree topping ceremony, guests enjoyed a delicious BBQ lunch and some event goers got a tour of the construction site led by Texas Children’s Pediatric Tower leadership team and crew members from W.S. Bellows Construction, who is overseeing the vertical expansion project.
View photo gallery of the Pediatric Tower Topping Out event below.
