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The rules are simple for Star Commuters Matt Willis and Scott Flowers’ vanpool – the first rule of “vanpool club”: mutual respect. The second rule of “vanpool club”: show up on time.
Matt (left) and Scott (right) serve as primary driver and backup driver/bookkeeper (respectively) for an 11-member vanpool that travels about 70 miles each day to and from the Marysville area, making stops in Lynnwood and Everett. Read full post »
Continuing to document the progress of our expansion through aerial photos, you’ll now see some very bright color on the new building taking shape (it’s not actually the color of the new building’s exterior… just the materials underneath). Read full post »
Lots of work is underway on various landscaping features surrounding the existing and new hospital buildings.
Along the west side of the existing building, crews are grading for the fire lane which consists of a concrete walkway and retaining wall. Concrete and pump trucks and other equipment will be onsite to complete this work by mid-February.
Crews are also working to install the retaining wall and concrete stairs at the southeast corner of the site. Read full post »
As the end of construction on Phase 1 of our Building Hope expansion nears, we will begin to migrate several patient care units from existing spaces into the new building. Our cancer care, pediatric intensive care and cardiac intensive care units, plus our Emergency Department, will all pack up when the hammering stops. Read full post »
It’s official! An expanded Emergency Department (ED) – designed with family needs and operational efficiency in mind – will be a vital part of our new patient care facility opening spring 2013. The last thing families want to do when they come to the ED is sit in a waiting room until a caregiver can see their child. In the new ED at Seattle Children’s, a nurse will initiate care as soon as families walk through the door – one of many improvements families will experience when the new facility opens in 2013 as part of our Building Hope expansion project.
Our existing ED is overwhelmed. ED visits climbed to 36,700 in 2011 and are expected to increase another 27percent by 2020. The new ED will increase our capacity from 25 rooms to 38 rooms and support a more efficient model of care. Read full post »
In this third and final blog post highlighting numbers that show why Seattle Children’s needs to expand and grow in order to meet the needs of patients and their families, we look at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Although most research employees are not located on the Laurelhurst campus, the work they do directly impacts our patients and their families.
Here are some interesting facts about the institute from Fiscal Year 2011 (Oct. 1 through Sept. 30):
Total Amount Granted Through Research Awards: $69,381,353
• Federal: $52,854,928
• Foundation: $13,139,746
• Corporate: $2,672,545
• Other: $714,134
In January we introduced you to Children’s Star Commuter program, which recognizes employees who demonstrate diligence and creativity in using transportation alternatives. This month we meet Star Commuter Richard Augastino, who has no need for four wheels… except those of a Metro bus and a Seattle Children’s shuttle.
His commitment to alternate transit led him to go carless a few years ago – and he never plans to go back to car ownership again.
“If you live in Seattle, there’s no reason to have a car,” says Richard, senior administrative assistant in the Division of Adolescent Medicine. “I’m an advocate for public transportation.” Read full post »
In this blog post series were taking a look at some numbers that show why Seattle Children’s needs to expand and grow in order to meet the needs of patients and their families.
During Fiscal Year 2011 (Oct. 1 through Sept. 30), here were the top 10 reasons that patients were admitted to the hospital, along with the number of patients who had those conditions:
1. Asthma: 483
2. Chemotherapy: 426
3. Bronchiolitis/RSV: 425
4. Seizure: 349
5. Acute Gastroenteritis: 276
6. Acute Appendicitis: 267
7. Bacterial Pneumonia: 261
8. Cleft Lip/Palate: 241
9. Cellulitis (skin infections): 230
10. Complications From Diabetes: 227
Seattle Children’s recently launched the Opinion Sandbox, an online panel of parents who volunteer their time by taking one to two brief online surveys each month on a variety of topics.
If you are a parent of at least one child age 0 to 21 who lives at home and you reside in Washington state, we would love to have you participate! (You do not need to have a child who has been a patient at Children’s; Children’s staff and faculty are not eligible.) The only information we collect from you is your email address and first name. Read full post »
I love hats! You’ll never see me anywhere without my own special red and white stripey hat. Did you know that you can sometimes tell what a construction worker does for their job, just by looking at the color of their hard hat? Now when you watch the workers, you might be able to guess what they’re working on from this clue. Different colors help everyone know who does what, and also know where everyone is. That’s helpful on a big construction site. Sometimes workers need to be tested and licensed to do certain jobs before they can wear the correct colored hard hat. A hat can tell you a lot about someone! Read full post »