University of Rochester in US breaks ground on Golisano Children’s Hospital

The University of Rochester in New York, US, has broken ground on a new $145m Golisano Children’s Hospital.

Designed by Ballinger Architects, the new building is located on Crittenden Boulevard and attached to the Medical Center and Strong Memorial Hospital.

Upon completion, the building will link to the Strong Memorial Hospital and consolidate all units under one roof.

The facility will have eight floors, about 245,000ft² of space, 52 private patient rooms, an expanded neonatal intensive care unit, and various spaces designed to meet the needs of children and their families.

The new hospital will also feature playrooms, a new hospitality suite, a resource library and a two-storey play deck on the seventh floor.

The eighth floor of the building will feature a school room and a teen room that will overlook the play deck.

The two general care floors will each include a respite lounge. An outdoor rooftop play space and a healing garden are also planned.

LeChase Construction will oversee the three-year project, which is being financed through a combination of equity, loans, and funds raised from the public.

University of Rochester Medical Center CEO Bradford Berk said, "This new hospital has given us a chance to take our goal of patient and family-centered care to a whole new level."

The building is expected to open in 2015 and it will be further expanded with new paediatric operating rooms and a new paediatric cardiac intensive care unit/paediatric intensive care unit in 2016.

During a later phase of construction, Ronald McDonald House, which provides accommodation for the parents of critically ill children, will be relocated within the new hospital.

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Image: Golisano Children’s Hospital will have eight floors, about 245,000ft² of space and 52 private patient rooms. Photo: University of Rochester.