Children's Health Initiative

In 2010, the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview, will open a new academic pediatric medical center to serve children in the Upper Midwest and beyond. This 185,000-square-foot facility will contain 102 pediatric acute care beds, two medical/surgery units, a pediatric intensive care unit, blood and marrow transplant services, a dialysis center, a children's-only emergency department, solid organ transplant services, and space for families; it will link to existing services at the Birthplace and neonatal intensive care units, as well as behavioral services for children and adolescents. The new patient rooms will be single rooms with state-of-the-art features to accommodate children and their families—kitchens in which to prepare and store food, comfortable sleeping accommodations for families, storage areas for clothes and personal belongings, controllable lighting, plasma-screen TVs, and computers for families to use to keep up with personal and other business.

The Minnesota Medical Foundation and its affiliate the University Pediatrics Foundation will be actively involved in raising funds to support this exciting new community asset. For more information, e-mail or call Jennifer Soderholm, associate vice president of development, at 612-273-8634.