Contact:
Natasha Orrick
Natasha.Orrick@childrensmn.org
(612) 813-6614

Media Release
September 25, 2009

Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota Launches Fundraising Initiative, Fill a Room with Care

Program to Support 280 Private Patient Rooms

Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota today announced the launch of Fill a Room with Care, a fundraising initiative that aims to raise $13.5 million to support the development of 280 state-of-the-art private patient rooms. The expansion project is part of a $300 million plan that includes both its St. Paul and Minneapolis campuses, the most significant facilities improvement project since Children’s opened its doors in 1924.

Fill a Room with Care will be driven by financial contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations and organized fundraising teams who make a commitment to sponsor a private patient room. It will officially kick-off at a public event Sept. 26-27 at the Mall of America, during which mall-goers can tour a private patient room model, write get well cards to Children’s patients, and learn how they can get involved in the program.

"Through Fill a Room with Care and the generous support of donors and the community, we will be able to create an environment that better meets the changing and increasingly complex medical, emotional, behavioral and educational needs of each child and family,” said Children’s Chief Operating Officer David Overman.

Private patient rooms are important because they minimize the need to move patients, improve infection control and provide easier access to patient-dedicated equipment and medications. Private rooms are also important for enhancing the hospital experience for children and families. The added space allows families to stay together during a patient’s time in the hospital without having to commute back and forth from home. Technology advancements in the rooms will provide more entertainment options for patients, who often spend months at a time in the hospital, and will allow parents and patients to stay connected to the outside world.

Slated for completion in 2011, the rooms will feature:

The new private rooms were designed with input from patients, families and caregivers who contributed their design concepts in the form of colorful drawings of what a children's hospital should be.

“We wanted to create an environment that not only maximizes patient care, but one that is also caring, comforting and welcoming. That is why the feedback of patients, families and caregivers was so important to this project,” added Overman. “Beyond technology, the new private rooms will truly provide them with the ability to make the space feel like their own.”

The existing main hospital facilities in St. Paul and Minneapolis are more than 30 years old. Recent renovations and additions include the 2003 renovation of the neonatal intensive care unit in St. Paul (transforming to all private patient rooms), the 2004 addition of an ambulatory care center and the 2009 addition of a specialty care center – both in Minneapolis. The development of enhanced operating rooms and construction of a new emergency department, neonatal intensive care unit and cardiovascular center are also currently underway in Minneapolis. The emergency department is tentatively scheduled to open fall 2009.

Children’s high quality of care has been nationally recognized for many years and was recently reinforced by being named to US News & World Report’s rankings of America’s finest children’s hospitals. Children’s is also one of only 13 pediatric hospitals in the U.S. to be named a Magnet hospital – meaning it ranks in the top 4-percent of hospitals nationwide for excellence in nursing services.

For more information about Fill a Room with Care, visit: www.fillaroomwithcare.org.