New Era of Child-Focused Care for South Sound Families

TACOMA, Wash., July 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- It's a new era of medical care for children in the South Sound. Mary Bridge Children's Hospital will move out of the building it shares with MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital and into its own building dedicated solely for the care of children. In the new hospital, every facet of care will be designed to meet children's needs.

"We believe every child deserves uncompromising care so that they reach their goals," says Jeff Poltawsky, President & Market Leader at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital & Health Network. "And this new hospital will help us deliver on that promise."

The new Mary Bridge Children's Hospital will be located across Martin Luther King Jr. Way from the current location on existing campus space.

Construction will begin in early 2021 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024. The hospital will have 82 private patient rooms with shelled space to meet future needs, 10 operating rooms, a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, a hybrid interventional cardiology and radiology suite; dedicated MRI, CT and ultrasound, imaging, a state-of-the-art infusion center, endoscopy, lab and pharmacy services. The pediatric Emergency Department will have 38 treatment rooms and a pediatric mental health crisis stabilization unit.

Delivering on a Legacy of Uncompromising Care

For more than 60 years, Mary Bridge Children's Hospital & Health Network has provided the pediatric services the South Sound community needs ? working to continually advance pediatric specialties such as surgery, orthopedics and cancer care.

In 1955, the longtime dream of the women of the Tacoma Orthopedic Association (later known as the Mary Bridge Brigade) came to fruition when the first standalone children's hospital in the South Sound region opened its doors.

In 1987, the need for more space and more services drove Mary Bridge Children's Hospital to move its inpatient services into a new wing at Tacoma General Hospital.

While Mary Bridge Children's Hospital has continued to fulfill its vision to provide specialized pediatric care, co-location inside an adult-services hospital meant that Mary Bridge Children's faced challenges in providing the completely child-focused experience young patients and their families need and deserve.

Mary Bridge Children's determined the time had come for Mary Bridge Children's Hospital to once again have its own building. Children need health care designed for their unique needs, delivered by specially trained clinicians in child-friendly environments.

Meeting the Needs of a Growing Population

The South Sound continues to be one of the fastest growing regions in the nation, especially among young families. Nearly 24,000 babies are born in the area each year. Today, nearly 500,000 children live in the Mary Bridge Children's service area.

Mary Bridge Children's has grown along with the region, opening a new outpatient center in Gig Harbor and planning to expand outpatient care in Federal Way, North Kitsap and Olympia later this year.

Drawing on Best Practices to Provide Excellent Care at Lower Costs

The new Mary Bridge Children's Hospital will be designed and built to create the best possible experience for children using the latest in lean design and construction. Mary Bridge Children's has chosen to develop the new hospital using Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) methodology. The facility will incorporate recent technology, such as artificial intelligence, wayfinding, and smart rooms.  The patient and family experience will begin before the patient arrives with technology to enable digital check-in, provide clear directions and help them find a place to park in the new parking garage.

"The New Mary Bridge Children's Hospital is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create one of the best and safest children's hospitals in the nation," says Poltawsky. "It will usher in a new era of pediatric care in our region and will be a true testament to the dream that started more than 100 years ago to deliver a comprehensive, high value, pediatric health care destination in the South Puget Sound region."

To download video of b-roll footage and interviews, visit here.

For more information, visit marybridge.org.

About Mary Bridge Children's Hospital

Mary Bridge Children's operates a pediatric hospital in Tacoma along with outpatient centers and clinics in communities across the South Sound. Designated by the state as the Level II Pediatric Trauma Center for Western Washington, Mary Bridge Children's Hospital is the only pediatric hospital in southwest Washington dedicated to caring for children. Mary Bridge specializes in advanced care for children along with a primary care network throughout the region. Mary Bridge is a part of MultiCare Health System.

About MultiCare

MultiCare is a not-for-profit health care organization with more than 18,000 team members, including employees, providers and volunteers. MultiCare has been caring for our community for well over a century, and today is the largest community-based, locally governed health system in Washington. MultiCare's comprehensive system of health includes numerous primary care, urgent care and specialty services, as well as eight hospitals.

SOURCE MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital and Health Network