The New WakeMed Children’s Hospital

Contributed By Becky Scolio for WakeMed Health & Hospitals

When you think of a hospital, do you picture a huge aquarium with a pirate ship in it, a washer and dryer, personal computers, and Wii and PlayStation systems? 

These features, plus a highly specialized staff of pediatric providers and advanced technology specifically designed for the care of children, are all part of the new WakeMed Children’s Hospital, which opened in June on the WakeMed Raleigh Campus. 

The Facility
The entire 34,000-square-foot fourth floor of the new patient tower on the Raleigh Campus is dedicated to the new Children’s Hospital. Some of its key features include:

• More Rooms – The new hospital offers increased capacity to care for more children. It houses eight new Pediatric Intensive Care Unit beds, 12 observation beds and 25 more beds dedicated to pediatric inpatients. With the exception of two, two-bed sibling suites, all the rooms are private. They also include sleeping areas for parents.

• New PICU – The most seriously ill children are now treated in a state-of-the-art Pediatric Intensive Care Unit by WakeMed’s in-hospital pediatric intensivists — pediatricians who specialize in caring for critically ill children. The PICU offers privacy and an environment that is conducive to healing. Each room has full sleeping and bathroom facilities for parents. The PICU’s new formal name is the Jerry Bernstein, MD Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the result of a generous gift to the WakeMed Foundation in honor of Bernstein and his work as a pediatrician and advocate for children.

• In-Hospital Escapes – A Family Lounge, Play Room and Teen Room are all located in the new WakeMed Children’s Hospital. They offer family members of all ages respite from the clinical experience. Computers and computer games, board games, books, Wii, PlayStation and other activities are available. 

• Separate Treatment Room – Children should see their hospital rooms as safe places, away from the anxiety and discomforts that can be associated with procedures. For this reason, the new hospital houses a separate room where treatments are performed.

The Specialties
The availability of advanced pediatric specialty services in Wake County means families can avoid long trips for services and the missed days of work and school that those trips can mean. The list of pediatric specialties available at WakeMed continues to grow, including pediatric surgery, emergency medicine, endocrinology, radiology, pediatric and neonatal intensive care, urology, ENT, orthopaedics, neurology, anesthesia, gastroenterology, cardiology, infectious disease, rehabilitation, psychiatry and psychology.

Looking to the Future
Initially, the WakeMed Foundation Just for Kids Kampaign’s focus was to raise funds to build WakeMed Children’s Hospital. With that goal achieved, the foundation staff is now setting its sights on fundraising for Phase 2 — expanding the WakeMed Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. 

Each year more than 700 premature babies receive care in WakeMed’s Level IV NICU. Level IV is the highest designation a NICU can receive. It means the staff of neonatology specialists has the expertise to provide the most complex level of care to fetuses, premature infants and newborns with equally complex conditions. Wake County’s only Level IV NICU is located at WakeMed.

The opening of the new WakeMed Children’s Hospital is a true milestone for WakeMed and the children in our region. For more information, visit www.wakemed.org or call (919) 350-8000.