Level 9: Inpatient Unit

As with all patient rooms in our new hospital, each room will be divided into three areas. The care team zone will include a sink and access to supplies. The patient zone will feature the patient’s bed, TV, and a colorful lighting system known as Drew’s Lamp. The family zone in each room will include a sleeping area to support two adults. A nearby recliner lays flat for sleeping and has a glider feature for soothing patients. The family zone also will feature a TV and lights that can be controlled separately from other lights in the room. All rooms will include a locking storage cabinet and a refrigerator, both for family use.

Many features of the new hospital will make it easier for patients to rest. Single rooms mean more privacy and fewer distractions. Rooms will be same-handed in design, meaning that the room layout is identical in every inpatient room on this level. As a result, beds will never share a common wall, which cuts down on noise transfer between rooms. The standardized layout also will improve staff efficiencies and reduce the potential for error.

Offstage, or staff, areas in the center of every floor have been designed to make rooms and hallways quieter, too. The offstage area in the 9th floor inpatient unit will include offices, storage areas, and service elevators. Most deliveries will be handled offstage, further reducing noise. Patient elevators, also located offstage, will allow patients to be transported between floors without using public elevators, enhancing privacy.

Patients receiving care from the following areas will stay in 9th floor inpatient unit rooms: endocrinology, gastroenterology, gynecological surgery, neurology, neurosurgery, nephrology (including kidney transplants), orthopedics, surgery, trauma, and urology. When necessary, the 9th floor inpatient unit will accommodate overflow patients from the burn unit.

The 9th floor inpatient unit will also be home to the innovative Cornish Human Brain Research Laboratory. Our hospital is proud to be the first children’s hospital in the country to have such a facility. A monitoring room, one patient room, and a separate EEG monitoring room will comprise the lab. The research performed in the Cornish Human Brain Research Laboratory is aimed at advancing treatment of children with epilepsy and other neurological diseases.

The 9th floor inpatient unit also will house a large rehabilitation therapy room. The therapy room is designed to help patients learn to navigate stairs and restrooms with walkers or wheelchairs. Two patient rooms will serve as isolation rooms for patients with contagious illnesses. These rooms will provide a negative pressure environment. (Space is designed to keep airflow from leaving the room and entering the hallway.) In addition, two rooms have been designed to accommodate bariatric patients. They will include lifts, increased bed capacity, and reinforced bathroom fixtures.

The 9th floor inpatient unit includes three separate activity rooms—one each for young children, tweens and teens. These specially designed spaces will allow children to interact with peers as they might at school or in their neighborhoods. Each activity room will be furnished with age-appropriate furniture, artwork, toys, and games to help children relax and feel at home. In our current hospital, playrooms accommodate children of all ages.

Patients from the 9th floor inpatient unit will use a classroom on Level 10. The hospital teacher works with each child’s school to provide personalized instruction. Doing schoolwork helps provide a sense of normalcy for patients. It also prevents students from falling behind if they stay in the hospital for long periods.

For the convenience of our families, the 9th floor inpatient unit includes a family laundry room and vending machines. A large family lounge with Wi-Fi will provide a comfortable place for families to pass time. A parent respite room will allow family members to relax and refresh, yet remain close to their child. The 9th floor inpatient unit also will feature a conference room, a consultation room, a nourishment room, and a room for staff training. Another space, on the north side, will be reserved for resident physicians to rest. Offstage, employees will find a locker room, lounge, and staff lactation room.