Phoenix Children’s Hospital honored emergency first responders during a groundbreaking ceremony today to celebrate a new Emergency Department (ED) and Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center that will dramatically increase the Hospital’s emergency and trauma care capacity, while meeting the needs of the state’s burgeoning pediatric population. 

The $40 million ED and Trauma Center, funded through a year-long capital campaign and scheduled to open in late 2017, can 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 ED and Trauma Center were 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. While Phoenix Children’s boasts the state’s only American College of Surgeons (ACS) verified Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center and one the lowest mortality rates in the country, the space is now insufficient to meet the demand.

“Phoenix’s pediatric population is growing and the number of children we treat is rising dramatically,” said Dr. David Notrica, Phoenix Children’s trauma medical director. “Our new ED and Trauma Center will give us the space we need to save the lives of more children.”

Traumatic injuries are the leading cause of death in Arizona of children ages 1-16. The expanded ED and Trauma Center will offer 75 private exam rooms, more than tripling the current capacity, and will increase the number of trauma bays from four to nine in order to treat multiple trauma patients at the same time.

“Critically injured children treated at hospitals without a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center fare much worse than kids treated here at Phoenix Children’s, who are far more likely to survive and even thrive,” added Dr. Notrica.

In fact, treatment at an ACS-verified Level 1 trauma center, a designation reserved for centers that provide only the highest level of care, reduces mortality rates by 25 percent. Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Trauma Center is the only one of its kind in Arizona and one of only a few such centers nationwide.

Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation is leading the capital campaign for the expansion. The campaign kicked off with a $10 million gift from the Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation, the largest single donation ever received by the Hospital, with additional contributions from donors including Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation is leading the capital campaign for the expansion. The campaign kicked off with a $10 million gift from the Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation, the largest single donation ever received by the Hospital, with additional contributions from donors including Pediatric Surgeons of Phoenix, Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Foundation, Thunderbirds Charities, Sioles Family Foundation, Executive Council Charities, Susan and Michael L. Ebert, Burke Family Foundation, Margaret T. Morris Foundation, Phoenix Suns Charities, Apollo Education Group, Carol and Larry Clemmensen, The Globe Foundation and APS.

The project team for the new ED and Trauma Center includes Hobbs+Black, project architect, and Kitchell, general contractor.