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AKRON, Ohio — The pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Akron Children’s Hospital is moving to it’s new home Wednesday, the health system announced in a press release.
The move to the new building (Kay Jewelers Pavilion) comes with a host of improvements and modernizations including a dedicated heart unit.
“The new unit will give us a lot of room to grow and give us flexibility if we have a surge in patients, such as during respiratory season,” said Dr. Patricia Raimer, PICU medical director, in the release. “We are going from 23 to 45 beds, including a 13-bed high acuity PICU, a secondary unit that can accommodate an additional 23 patients, PICU or NICU beds, depending on the need, and the 9-bed Heart Unit.”
The Kay Jewelers Pavilion is also the site of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the ER. Raimer said this move will allow “enhanced care coordination” between the NICU and PICU.
As part of the move, there will also be a quiet and private space for families, “many who are often dealing with the most difficult situation they have face,” according to the release.
The health system said patient-moving plans have been underway for months.
Dr. Robert Stewart, Akron Children’s chief of cardiothoracic surgery, said having a private and single room for their entire stay at the hospital will enhance the patient and family’s experience.
“We will adjust the appropriate level of care while the patient keeps the same room through discharge,” Stewart said in the release. “Equally critical, by concentrating all heart patients in a single location, it helps us develop a highly specialized care team focused on the heart. This expertise extends from the bedside nursing team to the multidisciplinary staff and allows us to continue to grow as a center of excellence in caring for babies and children with congenital heart disease.”
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Cody Thompson
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