Changes underway to provide state-of-the art care in world-class facilities

Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is continuing to fulfill our vision to provide the best facilities and technologies for our patients and families through the largest expansion and modernization project since our two hospitals were first constructed in the 1970s. The expansion, on both campuses, will allow Children’s to provide state-of-the-art care in world-class facilities.

We broke ground at our St. Paul campus, where we will make major enhancements to our existing facility, including new operating rooms, an expanded and enhanced emergency room, and a beautiful new entrance.

In Minneapolis the new Children’s Specialty Center for ambulatory care is complete and houses our specialty clinics, including our hematology and oncology clinic and the C.H. Robinson Infusion Center, where children will receive chemotherapy and other infusion treatments in a serene setting. For patients, families, and employees it also offers a convenient outpatient pharmacy and retail center.

Through our Minneapolis expansion at the hospital and the recently completed Children’s Specialty Clinic, Children’s is merging architecture, landscape, science, and art to enhance the health care experience of children and families. An outcome of the expansion is creating a revitalized “sense of place” and urban renewal along Chicago Avenue---part of a medical corridor in an urban area much in need of revitalization. Art, science, and nature come together in a healing facility that enhances the urban streetscape and reflects our cultural diversity. One of the highlights is the Healing Garden and Grove – a 23,000 square foot area encompassing an aspen grove and elliptically shaped healing garden.

In Minneapolis, we are incorporating the Green Guide for Healthcare throughout the new hospital design. Construction began in 2008 on our seven-story hospital addition that will offer enlarged and enhanced operating rooms, a new emergency room suite, renovated neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, a new cardiovascular center, and in-house Ronald McDonald House.

As one of the largest in-hospital Ronald McDonald House facilities in the country-- approximately 8,200 square feet of space adjacent to the neonatal intensive care units--the Minneapolis campus will have 16 guestrooms, with a few specially designed for larger families.

The expansion and modernization project is about more than new spaces and technology, it is about creating a place where children and families are the primary focus and their health care needs are met in an environment that enables them to receive the best care possible.