Just two years after it opened, Sacred Heart Medical Centers Childrens Hospital, in anticipation of higher volumes of young patients this winter, says its making changes to its general and intermediate pediatric care units to make its pediatric services more flexible.


The hospital has decided to move its general pediatric unit into space its remodeling, freeing up room to move and expand its intermediate care unit, says Childrens Hospital Executive Director Peggy Mangiaracina.


The project is expected to be completed by January.


The intermediate unit currently shares 20 beds with the pediatric intensive care unit, but hasnt had a set number of beds of its own, Mangiaracina says.


She says its move and expansion will allow the Childrens Hospital to be more flexible with its beds and respond to changes in patient volumes.


Mangiaracina says the Childrens Hospitals admissions are up 12 percent this year, and that it expects more patients during the flu and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) season this winter, especially since Deaconess Medical Center closed its pediatric unit at the beginning of the year.


Admissions were up by 8 percent last year, she says.


This is a response to last winter, because last January we had more patients come to us and we didnt have flexibility in bed utilization, she says. Were increasing our ability to respond to the census.


The pediatric intermediate care unit, which will absorb the space vacated by the general pediatric unit, will have 27 beds, and can expand to up to 37 beds, she says.


The hospital plans eventually to remodel the intermediate care unit when theres a lull in the patient census, she says.


Intermediate care is provided for children who arent sick enough to require intensive care but arent ready to stay in the general pediatric unit, she says.


In its new home, the general pediatric unit will include 15 beds, a playroom and teen lounge, and room for 10 more beds, Mangiaracina says.


The general pediatric unit, which currently has 37 beds, will move from the third floor of the hospitals north wing, to the second floor of Sacred Hearts East Tower.


Remodeling work already is under way there, she says.


The combined cost of construction and new equipment for that move, as well as upgrades for the intermediate care unit, is estimated at $1 million, she says.


The 17,500-square-foot space thats being remodeled for the general pediatric unit used to house a nursing unit the hospital closed when it consolidated its adult psychiatric services a few years ago, she says.


Bouten Construction Co., of Spokane, is the contractor for the remodeling project, and Mahlum Architects, of Seattle, designed it.


The remodeling work includes providing an exam room, installing showers in the bathroom in each patient room, and redecorating the unit to fit a jungle theme for children. Each patient room also will have daybeds for parents to use, she says.


The other units at the Childrens Hospital include an intensive care unit that has 20 beds, an oncology unit with 18 beds, and a child/adolescent psychiatric unit that has 22 beds, Mangiaracina says.


A neonatal intensive care unit has 45 beds and a newborn nursery has 12 beds, bringing the total number of beds at the hospital to 159, with a capability to expand to 179 beds.