Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children Plans $200 Million Expansion Project

Wilmington, Delaware
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 @ 03:39 PM EDT
by: James Lardear, Public Relations; Ph: (302) 651-6092; jlardear@Nemours.org

Wilmington, DE – On Tuesday, May 21, the Nemours Board of Directors approved an estimated $200 million facility expansion plan for the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. The planning and design process will take place over the next 12 to 18 months, with an estimated opening of a new inpatient tower in 2012.

According to Tom Ferry, Senior Vice President, Hospital Operations for Nemours and CEO of the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, the plans to expand the hospital’s capabilities and efficiencies are necessary to meet the increasingly complex needs of today’s hospitalized child. Hospitalized children are more likely to be repeat patients, requiring sophisticated support and amenities.

“This is an exciting time for the duPont Hospital for Children,” Ferry says. “By building a new inpatient tower from the ground up, Nemours will be able to re-invent the patient/family experience by taking advantage of the best, evidence–based design techniques and advanced technologies.”

"The evidence-based approach to the design at the duPont Hospital is similar to concepts being employed in the development of the Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando—natural light, bringing the outdoors into the kind of healthy environment proven to benefit healing. The patient experience will be designed and delivered in a very similar way, North and South…the “NemoursWay,” says David J. Bailey, MD, MBA, Nemours President and CEO.

The goal will be to create a physical environment for duPont Hospital’s in- and outpatients that increases safety, decreases stress and symbolizes caring, healing and respect for patients and their families.

Initial plans call for extensive redesign of the existing space, including:

Building a new inpatient facility that integrates environmentally sustainable design and construction practices, with the flexibility to adapt to future needs
Creating an expansive new atrium that will likely encompass the entire side of the hospital
Completely renovating the outpatient care areas
Expanding and renovating the existing Intensive Care Units

Design considerations expected to enhance patient safety and family-centered care initiatives include:

Moving the medical/surgical nursing units in the current facility to an all-private bed configuration in the tower
Reconfiguring the current 24-bed inpatient nursing units into smaller groups that will provide increased flexibility
Increasing patient/family amenities like healing and recreation spaces and in-room patient portals that provide Internet, TV, on-demand movies and games and health care information that leverages KidsHealth.org content
Utilizing advanced technology like Wi-Fi, robotics and fully-integrated digital operations.

This project is not the first major expansion project the hospital has undergone. Alfred I. duPont Institute originally opened in July 1940 as an institute for pediatric orthopedics. The 60-bed hospital was among the few completely equipped hospitals of its kind in the region. It was built like the English hospitals of the era, which were designed around patient wards. In the early years, all patients were admitted and treated without charge.

In 1984, Nemours dramatically expanded their facilities, enabling them to treat more diseases of children. Now known as the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, this 200-bed hospital encompasses one million square feet of space and some 9 miles of corridors. The duPont Hospital currently offers all the specialties of pediatric medicine, surgery, and dentistry in a spacious, comfortable, and family-focused facility. While continuing our world-renowned reputation for orthopedics, we also offer national and regional programs in hematology/oncology, newborn open-heart surgery, liver, kidney and blood & bone marrow transplantation, and leading edge biomedical research.

As this project unfolds, Nemours will be seeking ways to partner with the community to bring it to fruition.

modified: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 @ 03:46 PM EDT
created: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 @ 03:38 PM EDT

About Nemours

Nemours, one of the nation’s largest pediatric health systems, is dedicated to achieving higher standards in children’s health. Nemours offers an integrated spectrum of clinical treatment coupled with research, advocacy, and educational health and prevention services extending to all families in the communities it serves. Starting with Alfred I. duPont’s bequest over seventy years ago, Nemours has grown into a multi-dimensional organization offering personalized clinical and preventive care focused on children.

Nemours owns and operates the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware and major children’s specialty clinics in Delaware (Wilmington), Florida (Jacksonville, Orlando and Pensacola), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Bryn Mawr) and New Jersey (Atlantic City and Voorhees). Having recently received preliminary approval from the State of Florida, Nemours will establish a new full-service children’s hospital as part of an integrated pediatric health campus in Orlando. KidsHealth.org, the world’s most visited pediatric health care Web site for parents, kids and teens, is a project of Nemours.

Nemours employs over 4,400 individuals, including 430 pediatric physicians, specialists and surgeons who cared for approximately a quarter of a million children in 2007. The organization’s goal is to align with parents, physicians, community leaders, children’s advocates and elected officials to ensure optimal wellness for every child. Additional information about Nemours can be found at www.nemours.org.