University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital Building Fact Sheet

The University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital was designed to provide the most advanced care for children in a family-centered environment. All children who do not require care in intensive care units have their own private rooms. Each room has large windows so children can enjoy sunlight and an outdoor view. In addition, key resources have been carefully located to make the hospital more functional for children, families, physicians, and staff. For example:

• Key family resources--such as the Au Bon Pan Café, Family Learning Center, and playground--are easily accessible on the first floor.
• The chapel is accessible from the lobby, yet set back from mainstream traffic for peace and privacy.
• Related clinical areas, such as the cardiac intensive care unit and the operating rooms, are located next to each other to streamline patient care.
• The satellite pharmacy is centrally located, making it easily accessible to staff from all units.

Size

242,000 square feet
Six floors plus mechanical penthouse
The University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital is 354 feet long and 133 feet wide. The basement floor and the second through third floors are 35,500 square feet. Floors four through seven are 31,000 square feet.

About 1,431 tons--or 2,862,000 pounds--of steel support the hospital.

The hospital contains 39,000 square feet of glass. The volume of concrete to build Chicago Comer Children's Hospital equals 9,000 cubic yards, which is enough to fill more than three Olympic-size swimming pools.

The length of pipes used, if placed end to end, would stretch to 197 miles. The length of cable used would stretch to 661 miles.

Technology

Special equipment inside Chicago Comer Children's Hospital includes the following:

• A 16-slice computerized tomography (CT) scanner incorporates the highest performing technologies to maximize image quality and speed.
• Air is 99.9 percent filtered against airborne contaminates through HEPA filters before being circulated to prevent the spread of infections throughout the hospital. Isolation rooms with special exhaust systems also are on each floor to protect patients from the environment.
• State-of-the-art patient bedside monitors connect with the University of Chicago Hospitals' computer network. This gives physicians, nurses, and other patient care staff the ability to view real-time data from terminals anywhere in the hospitals. In the future, physicians will be able to see near real-time patient data from home by linking to the Hospitals' Web site.
• The cardiac cath lab is wired for video conferencing so physicians from all over the world can view live procedures and interact with Chicago Comer Children's Hospital physicians real-time.
• Patients will not hear a loud overhead paging system. A new wireless call system allows patients to press a button and page their nurses silently.

Floor Plan

First Floor (Public Access)

Lobby, valet cashier/cash station, phones, Au Bon Pain Café, chapel, Family Learning Center, health professions library, playroom, outdoor playground, volunteer center, administration offices, conference room, and radiology, including:

• Two ultrasound rooms--one fluoroscopy room, one general radiology room
• Computed tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Second Floor

Neonatal intensive care unit with 47 Level-III beds, minor procedures room, two conference rooms, and the Family Care Center that includes:

• Laundry room
• Vending machine area

Third Floor

Surgery area with five operating room suites, cardiac intensive care unit with 10 beds, Cardiac catheterization lab, pre-operative and recovery areas, satellite pharmacy, family wait area, play area, and conference room

Fourth Floor

Pediatric intensive care unit with 20 beds, transitional care unit with 18 beds, palliative care suite, family lounge, main pharmacy, healing garden, play area, and conference room

Fifth Floor

31 licensed beds for general medical/surgical patients, neurology patients, and epilepsy patients and infants; physical therapy room; epilepsy monitoring room; minor procedures room; play area; and conference room

Sixth Floor

29 licensed beds for immunosuppressed patients, transplant and cardiology patients, cardiac surgery patients, and other medical or surgical patients; cardiac telemetry unit; heart station/echocardiograms; minor procedures room; palliative care suite; play area; family kitchen; and conference room

Location

The University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital is located at 5721 S. Maryland Avenue, with the main entrance on the north side of the building on 57th Street. Valet parking is available.