Background: C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital
In 1921, the University of Michigan Hospital established a separate children's ward, one of the first of its kind in the nation.
Since that time, hundreds of thousands of children from all 83 Michigan counties and many other states and countries have been treated at the U-M, and tens of thousands of babies have been born here. Today, U-M is internationally known for its high-quality advanced care for pregnant women, newborns and children, for research on health issues that affect them, and for training tomorrow’s generation of women’s and children’s specialists.
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital opened in 1969 as the U-M's first separate children's hospital, thanks in large part to a $6.5 million gift from Flint philanthropist Charles Stewart Mott.
In 1950, the Women’s Hospital was established to accommodate pregnant women and newborns. In 1972, the Holden Neonatal Intensive Care Unit opened to provide advanced care for premature and critically ill newborns.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, U-M’s facilities for children’s and women’s care were renovated and expanded, thanks in part to a $2.4 million grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. This project created a health care center that provides a full spectrum of health services for women and children at the C.S Mott Children’s Hospital, the Women’s Hospital Birth Center, the Holden Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit.
With the existing facilities now bursting at the seams, a fund-raising campaign for a new children’s and women’s hospital kicked off in May 2004. Part of U-M’s $2.5 billion Michigan Difference campaign, the campaign is being led by U-M Regent Dave Brandon and his wife Jan, along with U-M head football coach Lloyd Carr and his wife Laurie.
To date, the new children’s and women’s hospital campaign has raised $46 million, which includes a $25 million grant from the C.S. Mott Foundation, a $4 million grant from The Carls Foundation and more than $400,000 in sales the “M GO BLUE for Mott” wristbands.
The rapid rise in demand for U-M children’s and women’s care makes the need for a new building clear:
Inpatient care: In fiscal year 2005, more than 11,955 children were admitted to or born at U-M, compared with about 3,500 in the hospital’s first year. Adding to the crunch, many rooms initially designed for use by two or three children can now only accommodate one, due to the need for increased infection control and room for medical technology.
Surgical care: During fiscal year 2005 alone, more than 8,404 surgical procedures were performed in the eight operating rooms at Mott Hospital, including about 680 heart operations. Demand for Mott surgical services has increased 5 percent to 10 percent each year, and surgical teams now operate during extended weekdays and on weekends to meet demand. A new post-operative opened in 2005, in addition to a new operating room scheduled to open in 2006, will help accommodate more patients until a new hospital can be built.
Outpatient care: About 257,900 outpatient visits by children and infants took place in U-M clinics in 2005, compared with 25,000 in the late 1960s. Outpatient care for pregnant women, infants and children now occurs at more than 30 off-site locations, and the U-M offers occasional specialty clinics at many locations throughout the state of Michigan.
Births and newborn care: A total of 3,838 babies were born in the Women's Hospital Birthing Center in fiscal year 2005, compared with about 800 in 1969. About 40 percent of U-M births are to women with high risks of premature delivery or birthing complications. More than 1,095 Cesarean sections, took place in the three operating rooms at the Birth Center in 2005. And 1,096 critically ill infants were cared for in the Holden NICU in 2005.
Emergency care: More than20,220 emergency visits by infants and children under 18 were made in 2005 to the U-M Pediatric Emergency Department, located adjacent to the adult Emergency Department in University Hospital. More than 5,380 of these were serious trauma cases. Demand for emergency services has risen sharply since U-M’s first dedicated children’s emergency department opened in the early 1990s; in 1997, there were 12,229 emergency visits by children under 18. Since its inception, the Survival Flight service has transported more than 20,000 critically ill newborns and children to U-M via helicopter, airplane and specially equipped ambulance.
Within the current U-M Health System licensed bed complement, 240 are allocated to Mott and Women's hospitals. Of those beds, 160 are designated for pediatric inpatients, 40 are for critically ill newborns treated in the Holden Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and the Birth Center has 40 beds. Mott also has a 15-bed child and adolescent Psychiatry unit.
Hundreds of physicians from the U-M Medical School faculty provide care at Mott Hospital, the Birth Center and the Holden NICU. Virtually all of them are board certified in pediatrics or a pediatric subspecialty, or in obstetrics, as are many Mott nurses.
The current Mott Hospital’s seven floors, and the Birth Center and Holden NICU, add up to nearly half a million square feet for inpatient space, treatment and diagnosis areas, clinics and physician offices. Tens of thousands more square feet in the U-M medical campus and satellite locations are devoted to pediatric and women’s health outpatient clinics.
Young physicians can receive training in more than 20 subspecialties related to children’s and women’s care through residencies and fellowships at U-M.
Through Mott Hospital and other services, the U-M Health System serves one-fifth of all pediatric patients who come to Michigan for treatment from outside the state or country. In turn, these patients account for 5 percent of all patients discharged from U-M's hospitals.
Mott has the nation's oldest Child Life program, started in 1922 to organize educational and recreational activities for young patients. Today, it is widely recognized as one of the best programs in the nation.
U-M has been recognized numerous times for the quality of its children’s and women’s care. Mott Hospital has been consistently ranked as one of the Best Children’s Hospitals in America by Child magazine, and has been cited as a “best in class” hospital by the National Association of Children’s Hospitals. U.S. News & World Report ranks U-M as one of the top 16 hospitals for women’s OB/GYN care. The Pediatric Surgery residency is ranked as one of the top three in the nation, and the Medical School’s training program for future obstetrician/gynecologists has been recognized as one of the top 10 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
