Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital Opens

HERSHEY, Pa. — Three years after breaking ground, the new Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital was dedicated at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The 250,000-square-foot, five-story facility will allow the institution to expand and consolidate its services, integrating inpatient beds, outpatient clinics and a full-service surgical suite into a freestanding, signature building.

Two floors of the building house 72 patient rooms, distributed in four distinct wings, tailored to serve a variety of needs, including: medical-surgery, pediatric intensive and intermediate care and hematology/oncology. It features a dedicated wing for bone marrow transplant patients and immune-compromised children to minimize the risk of infection. One floor is dedicated to a six-room surgical suite for inpatient and outpatient surgeries, heart catheterization and electrophysiology procedures. An outpatient hematology/oncology unit that includes private infusion bays and dedicated consultation rooms is located adjacent to the entrance lobby. The ground floor includes central services and infrastructure that serve the entire medical center, including a central pharmacy, blood bank and radiology and diagnostic unit.

The input of the Family Advisory Council, patients and parents during the design process determined that patient areas be primarily designed for privacy and comfort. Patient rooms include accommodations for parents to sleep, work and access entertainment. Patients’ siblings can use amenities such a performance stage or indoor and outdoor play areas dedicated to different ages. In common areas, throughout and around the building, young patients and their families find distractions and amenities, and are engaged to learn through discovery and play.

On the lower level, the building’s common areas are organized along a promenade that connects the entrance lobby with a string of public amenities, ending in an enclosed children’s courtyard. Along the way, an interactive learning wall highlights the seasons in central Pennsylvania and engages patients, siblings and families while they wait. The promenade also features an education and resource center, a safety products store, a food court and a performance stage for family friendly events. Sitting in the courtyard is a dedicated meditation center, where visitors and patients can find a peaceful retreat.

With the opening of the new Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, a 10-year transformation of the Hershey Medical Center campus is now complete. Encompassing more than 1-million-square-feet of construction and over 14 acres of site development, the campus has a new identity and a new front door. The components of this transformation are the South Annex, Emergency Department, Cancer Institute, New Main Lobby, Centerview Parking Garage and the Children’s Hospital. All buildings are unified along the curve of the arc, a reference to the north-facing crescent that dominated the original campus.

Primary Project Team
Owner: PSU Hershey Medical Center
Architect: Payette Associates Inc.             
Construction Manager: L.F. Driscoll Company, LLC
Structural and Civil Engineer: Gannett Fleming Inc.           
MEP Engineer:  Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers, LLC
Landscape Architect: Hargreaves Associates
                
Rendering courtesy of Payette