USA Health to expand pediatric emergency department, build free-standing surgery center

Plans for the renovated and expanded Pediatric Emergency Center at USA Health Children's & Women's Hospital call for more than doubling the space of the current pediatric emergency department.

USA Health received state approval on two projects that will enrich the education and training of students at the USA College of Medicine: the renovation and expansion of the Pediatric Emergency Center at USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital and the construction of a free-standing surgery center in Baldwin County. 

Plans call for more than doubling the current pediatric emergency department from 9,000 square feet to nearly 19,000 square feet and expanding from 14 treatment areas to more than 30 areas, including 25 private treatment rooms. The project also will create two behavioral health rooms and a sensory room to enhance the care for patients with specialized needs.

Further, the space will provide enough room for parents and caregivers to be with their children to enhance the experience for young patients and their loved ones.

The expansion also will strengthen the educational and training opportunities of future healthcare providers including emergency medicine residents, medical students, nurses and nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other allied health professionals.

“This project will enable us to have state-of-the-art facilities that match the high-quality care that we uniquely provide to the children in our region,” said Owen Bailey, MHA, FACHE, chief executive officer of USA Health. “We are fortunate to have the only emergency room in the area dedicated to pediatric care, which means we also have the providers specifically trained in this area of medicine. Additionally, we have the opportunity to train future generations of care providers so that we can meet the emergent healthcare needs of children not only today, but well into the future.”

Construction on the Pediatric Emergency Center is scheduled to begin in early 2022 and finish in mid-2023. The initial estimated cost of the renovation, construction and equipment for the project is $15 million, with USA Health already having raised nearly $10 million through donations.

A rendering shows the ambulatory surgery center planned

for the Mapp Family Campus in Baldwin County. 

USA Health also gained state approval to build a free-standing ambulatory surgery center on the Mapp Family Campus in Baldwin County. The campus is located at the southeast corner of Alabama 181 and Alabama 104, just outside of Fairhope.

Services planned for the Mapp Family Campus include primary care, pediatric specialties, pulmonary medicine, gastroenterology, orthopaedic surgery, urology and more. Also, the campus will house a full range of imaging services, adding to the convenience for the people of Baldwin County.

“The entire project also allows us to train more members of the next generation of healthcare providers on not only some of the most sophisticated technology available in healthcare, but also in the interpersonal skills that are so important in providing high-quality care to our patients,” Bailey said.

Learn more:

Plans approved to expand Pediatric Emergency Center at USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital

USA Health gains approval to build free-standing surgery center in Baldwin County