Our New Hospital - Frequently Asked Questions
Why do we need a new facility?
The future C. S. Mott Women's and Children's Hospital
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and the University of Michigan's Women's Hospital have collectively provided the best in specialized care to hundreds of thousand of patients since opening in 1969 and 1950, respectively. The world of science and medicine has changed dramatically over the past four decades, however, and patient care, research and medical technology have made extraordinary advances. Now it is time for our hospitals to grow and prepare for the future.
In addition to providing safe, effective and progressive care for women and children, the new C.S. Mott Children's Hospital
and Women's Hospital has been designed to provide a new and larger home for specialty services for newborns, children and
pregnant women - not offered anywhere else in Michigan - such as:
- the pediatric liver transplant program,
- the Level I Pediatric Trauma Program,
- the Pediatric and Adolescent Home Ventilator Program,
- the Craniofacial Anomalies Program,
- high-risk pregnancy services and
- specialty gynecological services.
This is our way to grow and prepare for the future.
Who is the new facility for?
We have designed the new children's and women's hospitals replacement facility for you - our patients and your families. Your care and treatment is important to us. We want every interaction you have with the University of Michigan Health System to be positive and caring. That is why we live by our motto: "Patients and Families First."
We sought input from patients and their families - and teams of more than 450 current Mott and Women's faculty and staff - to make sure that the layout and design of the new facility will help us deliver the best care to you.
What will the new facility do?
The new facility will enhance the inpatient and outpatient services within the current Mott Hospital, the world-renowned Michigan Congenital Heart Center, the Birth Center and the Holden Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
The facility also will be home to numerous pediatric specialty clinics within the U-M Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases as well as Psychology, Autism and Orthopaedics. There will be an area for both adult and pediatric bone marrow transplant patients and pediatric non-cancer infusion, too, with a dedicated infusion pharmacy on the floor.
The facility will enable us to keep pace with the latest in medical technology and communications.
What will the new facility look like?
The 1.1 million square foot facility will span the length of two football fields. It will consist of two conjoined towers - a 9-story clinic tower and a 12-story inpatient tower - that will bridge inpatient and outpatient services within the same disciplines. This will create a programmatic approach to patient care on each floor.
Prominent in both size and scope, the facility will host wide spans of glass to bring natural lighting into the facility, and will provide inpatient rooms with scenic views of the Nichols Arboretum and Huron River. The design also will incorporate curved forms and building insets that relate to the arboretum - humanizing the scale of the hospital. A sky-lit canopy will greet patients and guests while a two-story lobby and waiting area - overlooking outdoor courtyards - will create an inviting entry into the facility.
Within the new facility, there will be:
- A basement level maintenance garage, which will provide storage and service for medical equipment. It will replace storage areas previously housed on patient floors, to maximize space for patient care.
- Two-story lobby with Family Resource Center overlooking an outdoor garden park, complete with a library, teaching rooms, computer access and a place to meet in private with social workers and other health care providers. The lobby will be staffed 24 hours a day with greeters to increase security and aid with wayfinding.
- A separate entrance off East Medical Center Drive that will lead into a dedicated pediatric emergency and urgent care center. The center will include 30 exam rooms, six observation bay, general X-ray, CT scanning and Hazmat capabilities, and shell space for future growth. A helipad on top of the 12-story tower will include an elevator with direct access to the pediatric emergency center.
- On-call suites for health care providers.
- Three-hundred-square-foot pediatric inpatient rooms with computer and wireless technology access, and special areas inside and outside of the room for the patient to decorate and personalize. These rooms will comprise of three parts: a clinician area at the entrance; a patient care area; and a family area where parents can stay with their child 24 hours a day and no medical procedures will be performed.
- Sixteen pediatric operating rooms, which have been designed in anticipation of future advancements in portable imaging technology. Alongside the ORs will be private pre-op areas, as well the Post Anesthesia Recovery Unit. In its current eight pediatric operating rooms, Mott performed more than 8,400 surgical procedures in fiscal year 2005 alone.
- A floor devoted to inpatient and outpatient cancer care. This floor will be home to 32 adult bone marrow transplant rooms, and 32 pediatric bone marrow transplant rooms. It will include a pediatric non-cancer infusion areas as well, in addition to a dedicated infusion pharmacy. This floor also will include a family workout area, to enhance the family- centered care experience.
- The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for critically ill newborns, which will grow from 40 beds in the current Mott Hospital to 46 beds in the new facility. All beds in the new NICU will be private, and include space for parents or caregivers to stay with their child 24 hours a day. Thirty-one spacious obstetric and gynecology exam and procedure rooms, allowing for more procedures to be moved out of the OR. The Ob/Gyn clinics will share a floor with the Women's Birth Center. The 50 single room maternity care beds in the Birth Center will all have natural light.
- The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and the Pediatric Cardio-Thoracic Unit, which will share a floor, as they do in the current Mott Hospital. A special feature of the floor will be the Family Accommodation Area, created in partnership with the Ronald McDonald House, to provide short-term lodging for patient families with the most critical and urgent needs until other lodging becomes available. The Family Accommodation Area will include 12 dorm-style rooms with beds, showers and desks.
- The clinical and outpatient services of Michigan Congenital Heart Center, which provides the best care available for infants, children, adolescents and adults with congenital heart defects and diseases, will all be located on one floor within the new facility.
The architectural firm of HKS Architects is retained to design the building project.
How will the facility be funded?
The building project will be funded through philanthropy and hospital reserves. No state funding will be needed.
Already, UMHS has raised more the $50 million of its $75 million fund-raising goal for the new facility.
How can I help?
There are many ways to lend your support to the new C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital building project:
- Shop Mott for clothing, accessories, books, stationary and special travel offers.
- Buy a tile, build a dream
- Make an online gift
- Host or sponsor an event to benefit Mott
How will the new facility enhance Family-Centered Care and provide a home away from home?
All patient rooms will be private, have a window and a place for a family member to stay with the patient. The planned 300-square-foot pediatric inpatient rooms all will include a computer capable of connecting children to their classrooms and those at home, and providing access to the Internet and educational programs during their stay. All rooms will be configured for wireless technology, which can be used by parents as well as the child's health care providers. Plus, all inpatient rooms will be equipped with special Hepa filtering air handling.
Some highlights:
- Within the Women's Hospital Birth Center, the labor, delivery and recovery rooms will be 300 to 360 square feet to allow for access to state-of-the-art care, as well as space for families to celebrate the birth of their new babies.
- A family resource center - complete with a library, teaching rooms, computer access and a place to meet in private with social workers and other health care providers - will be located in the main lobby.
- The main lobby will offer entertainment and other activities to help reduce stress for parents, siblings and other family members of patients, and will open into an outdoor garden park that will have play space for children and a reflection area.
- A meditation space, a gift shop and a food services area will be located nearby.
- A family workout room, a family accommodation area - a dorm-style living area for parents with children in the pediatric ICU - and greeters on every floor to increase security and provide wayfinding for visitors.
Does UMHS plan to pursue LEED certification for the project?
Yes, the U-M Health System does plan to pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the new facility. In addition, the new facility will be paperlight and wireless upon opening.
Additionally, recycled materials will be used throughout the facility, including flooring. Plus, to-date, 200 tons of concrete and asphalt have been recycled on the project site.
What will faculty and staff communication be like?
To optimize patient care, communication stations for physicians, nurses and other health care providers will be located throughout the floors to keep staff close to patients and in communication with each other. Staff team rooms on every floor will provide social workers, Child and Family Life experts, and other health care providers with a confidential area to discuss patients' care and map out care strategies.
Plus, the entire facility includes plans for wireless and paperlight operations for staff.
Will pediatric emergency medical services reside within the new facility?
The new facility will be home to one of the only pediatric emergency medicine centers in the state. With a separate entrance off East Medical Center Drive, the emergency center will be staffed by dedicated pediatric health care workers, and will be Hazmat capable, allowing it to be fully prepared, like the main University Hospital's Emergency Department, to care for patients in the event of a major outbreak or disaster. A helipad atop the 12-story tower with direct elevator access to the pediatric emergency center will provide young patients flown in by Survival Flight, the UMHS air medical service, with immediate access to emergency and urgent care.
Learn more about how the Sorini family's $7 million gift will help advance emergency medicine practices and the care of critically ill and injured children.
What plans do you have for the existing facility?
The existing facility will be used to benefit the entire Health System. The space will be used for additional faculty offices, clinic facilities, family space and much more to support the growing needs of UMHS patients.
Updated 6/2009
