Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) comprise a significant population of patients receiving cancer treatment at Seattle Children’s. About a fourth of the patients treated in our inpatient unit are age 15 and older. Research shows that, for certain kinds of cancer, AYAs have dramatic improvements in long-term survival when they are treated on pediatric treatment protocols at a pediatric hospital.
When the new building opens in 2013, the cancer program will move into a larger 48-bed unit on the upper two floors. The top floor of the building will be a dedicated floor for AYAs. No other hospital in the United States currently offers a dedicated inpatient unit of this size for the care of AYAs with cancer. The new facility will advance the delivery of age-appropriate cancer care, provide a setting for new and groundbreaking social programming, and greatly facilitate research aimed at improving psychosocial outcomes for this patient population.
For more information about the making of this video and about the AYA program visit our On the Pulse blog.
Our Building Hope team is about to lose its tallest, strongest and hardest working player. Pagasa, the 244-foot tall construction crane, is coming down May 24 after spending the last year hoisting heavy loads of building materials into the sky. A mobile crane will arrive May 23 to assist in the dismantling, which is expected to take two days. Read full post »
A crew of about 20 people will be working on the exterior of our Building Hope expansion this Saturday, May 19, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The weekend shift is necessary in order to attach the glass fins to the building’s cladding before the Fraco lifts are completely dismantled. Read full post »
We’re moving the gate that serves parking lot four in the northeast portion of our campus, requiring some repaving. The work begins at 8 a.m. on Friday, May 18, when contractors will demolish and remove asphalt and continues at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 19, when they’ll begin to repave and install concrete curbing. They’ll install the final layer of pavement starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 26. The work will generate some noise as well as some odors from the repaving. You may also hear some noise on Wednesday, May 16, when contractors saw through pavement to install underground electrical lines. Thank you for your patience as we complete this work.
Work begins Monday, May 14, to restore 40th Avenue Northeast to a concrete surface between Northeast 45th Street and Sand Point Way. The street was torn up and patched with asphalt so that Puget Sound Energy could lay a new gas line to help serve our Building Hope expansion. The work will take about two weeks. During that time, 40th Avenue will be reduced to a single lane operating in one direction at a time with no street parking.
Seattle City Light crews will work this Saturday, May 12, to complete new underground electrical connections for our Building Hope expansion. Activity will continue intermittently throughout the following week, including some evening work on Monday, May 14, and Thursday, May 17. The weekend and evening work is necessary to accommodate the busy schedule of Seattle City Light’s underground crews. The work will be quiet and confined to the Plaza fire lane.
As you may have noticed, digging the foundation for our Building Hope expansion created a mountain of dirt at the north end of the site. We excavated 70,000 cubic yards of earth – enough to fill more than 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. How do we plan to get rid of all that dirt? We don’t. Read full post »
When I look at our Building Hope expansion, I’m amazed at how much progress we’ve made. Last year at this time, we were still excavating the site. Today, the building looks at first glance like it could open could next week – not next year – as exterior work is virtually complete. Read full post »
It’s rare, but there are times when contractors must complete certain tasks on weekends to avert safety concerns, avoid disrupting the regular work week and keep our Building Hope expansion project on schedule.
On Saturday, May 5th, 10 to 15 people will be working quietly inside the building from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. to meet an OSHA requirement related to the construction power supply. The only visible sign of work will be the operation of the external elevator on the north side of the building.
The Fraco lifts that provided workers with platforms to install the stone, metal and glass that clads our Building Hope expansion are being disassembled as exterior building construction winds down. The process started this week and is expected to last about a month. Attached to tall masts, the Fraco lifts help workers safely move up and down the building and also allows them to move side-to-side. Fraco lifts have become a popular alternative to traditional scaffolding because they’re safer and more efficient.
