Members of the Board of Directors for Executive Council Charities met, Tuesday, at Phoenix Children’s Hospital to provide the first installment of a $500,000 commitment over five years to fund the sub waiting room, discharge lobby and a family consult room at the new emergency department and trauma center.
After a brief program, a tour of the shell space for the new center and a formal check presentation, the board members were able to meet and distribute teddy bears to some of the patients and their families at the hospital.
The $40 million emergency department and trauma center, funded through a multi-year capital campaign and scheduled to open in late 2017, will be able to accommodate 100,000 patients each year.
The building will be located at Thomas Road and State Route 51, adjacent to Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s main patient tower. In addition to providing direct access for patients arriving by ambulance, the center will be located directly below the helipad, placing patients just seconds away from trauma and resuscitation bays, operating rooms, critical imaging and the pediatric intensive care unit.
The Hospital’s existing emergency department and trauma center was designed to accommodate 22,000 children annually, but more than 83,000 patients came through its doors in the last year alone, making it one of the busiest centers nationwide.
The sub-waiting room provides a resting point for multiple services. The area supports patients who have been triaged and are waiting to be taken to a room, a place for family members to wait while patients are receiving certain examinations as well as an area for patients awaiting lab results.
All patient families will depart the emergency department through the discharge lobby. Families are consulted about treatment decisions, and taught how to care for their child’s condition. The private family consultation rooms allow parents to receive critical information about their child’s condition.
This new commitment comes on the heels of a previous $500,000 commitment for the Executive Council Charities 4th Floor Playroom in the main hospital.
“The medical services Phoenix Children’s Hospital provides the children of our community are second-to-none and our mission of helping youth overcome adversity inspires us to continue to help when a need exists” said Curt Kremer, 2015 to 2016 Board Chairman for Executive Council Charities. “We have grown to a point where we can make significant commitments to support strong organizations like Phoenix Children’s, as well as providing annual grants to more than one hundred lesser known and emerging nonprofits that impact local youth.”
“We are very grateful to Executive Council Charities for their generous commitment and long standing partnership,” said Steve Schnall, senior vice president, chief development officer, Phoenix Children’s Hospital. “The need for the new ED and trauma center is very real and for an organization that has only been a stand-alone nonprofit for six years to be making their second major donation to PCH is truly amazing.”
