The Medical University of South Carolina opened its new children’s hospital and women’s pavilion in Charleston on Saturday, moving patients out of its old children’s hospital in a single day.
In under 12 hours, paramedics and hospital staff moved 200 patients into the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital, WCSC Live 5 reported. Medical teams from across the tri-county area began moving children before sunrise, and MUSC staff said more than 30 ambulances carried children and mothers to the new building at Courtenay Drive and Calhoun Street.
Patients were split into four groups for the move, with the most critical settled in first, Live 5 reported. The Post and Courier counted 157 patients arriving at the new hospital during the day.
“I don’t think we’ve ever shut down a hospital and opened up another one and transferred patients out at this magnitude before,” said Chris Es’Dorn, assistant director of Family Medical Transport, who has worked in emergency medical services for almost 30 years, according to the station.
What the building holds
The 625,000-square-foot building includes more than 200 beds and an 82-room neonatal intensive care unit, according to Live 5. The station put the total cost of the children’s hospital and the Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion at about $389 million.
About 9% of that, or $35,750,000, came from state funding, Live 5 reported. As of Feb. 3, MUSC had received more than $149 million in donations, or 38% of the cost, the hospital told the station.
The building at 10 McClennan Banks Drive rises 11 floors and is nearly as tall as MUSC’s Ashley River Tower nearby, The Post and Courier reported. South Carolina’s only Level 1 pediatric trauma center is on the first floor, with a critical care and burn center on the floor above, according to the newspaper. Labor and delivery rooms are on the fourth floor, reached by what Live 5 called a “stork elevator” for expectant mothers.
The NICU includes seven “couplet” rooms that let a new mother and a sick infant receive care side by side. In the old children’s hospital, mothers were separated from infants being treated in the NICU, The Post and Courier reported. Amy Hauser, the children’s hospital administrator, told the newspaper the hospital is the only one in the Southeast to offer that kind of care.
“Why would you ever separate a mother and a baby if you can help it?” Hauser said.
Patient rooms are 20% bigger than in the old hospital, and the building features Charleston-themed artwork by 60 local and regional artists, Live 5 reported.
Months of delays
The hospital was originally supposed to open in October 2019, but work was delayed by Hurricane Dorian and the evacuation order that came with it, ABC News 4 reported. A second date, Dec. 14, also passed after hospital officials said additional adjustments were needed, according to the station. ABC News 4 reported that a final inspection that month found “major issues of concern,” including unfinished punch-list items and missing certification letters from design professionals.
On Feb. 10, MUSC said the building had passed all necessary safety and regulatory inspections and that care teams had been cleared to occupy it, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
“Our contractor informed us today that they have passed all of the necessary regulatory inspections needed to ensure the opening of a fully operational and safe hospital on Feb. 22,” Dr. Patrick Cawley, CEO of MUSC Health, said at the time, according to ABC News 4.
Opening day
MUSC leaders have planned the building since at least 2013, The Post and Courier reported. The celebration on Saturday began with local businessman Shawn Jenkins and Dr. Mark Scheurer, a pediatric cardiologist who leads MUSC’s women’s and children’s service line, cutting a ribbon at the glass entrance.
Donors and executives then joined doctors and nurses to christen each floor, posting photos and videos to Facebook as they went, the newspaper reported.
Scheurer, who also served as the project’s leader, told Live 5 during a media tour Thursday that he was confident the building was ready despite last year’s delays. He said the hospital was designed by and for patients and families, with the experience of staff and patients put first.
Labor and delivery units ran at both the old and new hospitals until the move, according to Live 5. Before opening day, MUSC set up a logistics center and two command centers to oversee the transfer.
