OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — On Wednesday,Children’s Hospital & Medical Center held the grand opening for the Hubbard Center for Kids.
Sunday, after four-and-a-half years of work, the new facility opened its doors to its patients.
“We could not be more excited for what is happening today,” Children’s Hospital & Medical Center CEO and President Chanda Chacon said.
The first to get a new room was infant Isla Hoffman. Isla is a twin that was born with medical issues and went into surgery right away at Children’s.
“We were told we were going to be waiting 12 weeks for the next surgery, which was kind of hard to hear knowing we were going to be here for a while,” Isla’s Mother Ashley Hoffman said.
There have been some bumps in the road before and after that surgery, but she has been doing really well of late.
“Getting close, kind of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Ashley said.
Isla was one of about 50 infants and children making the move Sunday.
The move will make life much easier for families that have a child that will be staying for a considerable amount of time.
“One of our goals is to provide family-centered care, and it’s really hard to do that in a small room that doesn’t have an area designated for a parent,” Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Medical Director Nicole Birge said. “These new rooms with a bigger square footage allow parents to be closer to their baby and be more involved in their cares, which is exactly what we want for a good outcome.”
“Just maybe a little more comfortable for families, they kind of have some cool things over there to make your stay a little bit better,” Ashley said. “Especially when you might be here a little bit longer than anticipated.”
The upgrades in space and services are huge for Children’s, because of what they can offer that most places cannot.
“Our NICU at Children’s is the only Level 4 NICU within the region, which means we can offer the most advanced subspecialties and medical interventions that other NICUs in the region cannot provide,” Birge said. “It’s really important for us to be able to expand our capacity to be able to care for those patients because they can’t get that care anywhere else in the city.”
The move brings the intensive care units and the cardiac care unit back from Methodist Hospital across the street to the Children’s campus.
It's the first time the units will join the rest of the staff in over two decades.
“Coming back across the street, while it seems like maybe not such a big deal, it is very symbolic for us because we are reuniting with the rest of the doctors and nurses who care for children in the rest of the hospital,” Birge said.
It's a move centered around taking the best care of kids and our future.
“Just very appreciative of everything they have done for us and our family over our stay,” Isla’s Father Adam Hoffman said. “It’s just been incredible and comforting knowing that they have her best interest at all times.”
“We’ve had some families that have been with us for a really long time and have been in and out of Children’s. For them to be able to experience this incredible facility is exciting,” Chacon said. “You can feel it when you’re walking around.”
