Building Hope, Part 1: Top Ten Features of Cancer Inpatient Unit

Cancer Patient Room

In April 2013, Seattle Children’s will open Building Hope, a new  facility that will house a new cancer inpatient unit with 48 single patient rooms. Additionally, Building Hope will include 32 private rooms for critical care treatment and a new Emergency Department.

The cancer care space will span two floors and offer several features that will make a patient and their family’s stay as personalized and comfortable as possible.

A 16-bed teen and young adult cancer space will occupy its own floor, where patients will benefit from the support of their peers in an age-appropriate environment. No other hospital in the United States currently offers a dedicated inpatient unit of this size for the care of teens and young adults with cancer.

Top Ten List

Therapy Gym
Care Team Work Space
Family Lounge
  1. More space – showers, room for parents to stay overnight and conference tables: Rooms are approximately 330 square feet which includes bathrooms with showers and room for two parents to stay overnight. In-room conference tables enable providers to talk with patients and families about treatment plans – a design element that empowers patients and families to participate in the medical care. Rooms also provide space for families to eat together and space to play.
  2. Choose your room’s temperature and color or lighting: Patients have the ability to light up glass door panels with multi-color LED lights. Lights can be tailored to fit personal preferences allowing patients to choose their favorites in a situation when they may feel they have little control over much else. Patients and their families can also control room temperature via an in-room thermostat.
  3. Medication and supplies pass-through cabinets: Care team staff will deliver medications, linens and other items to and from patient rooms through cabinets with doors on the inside and outside of the room. In shared patient rooms, there are approximately 185 to 190 interruptions per day from visiting physicians, nurses and others. The number of interruptions in Building Hope cancer care rooms will be cut in half, promoting healing and peace for the patient and family, and reducing risk of transmitting infection.
  4. Adjustable air filtration system: Each cancer care room includes its own air filtration system that can replace old air with fresh air up to 12 times an hour. With this system, the number of air changes can be adjusted based on a patient’s needs. The system is also used when a room receives a new patient so the next occupant has the freshest air possible.
  5. “Get Well Town”: Each patient room includes a 42-inch television with “Get Well Town,” an interactive Internet-equipped TV entertainment system with access to live and on-demand TV programming and movies. Patients will additionally have access to medical information and 60 on-demand  games.
  6. Personal refrigerators: Patient rooms include a refrigerator so patients and families can keep their own food and beverages onsite.
  7. Future rooftop terrace: Once completed, cancer patients will have access to a therapeutic garden situated on the rooftop of the building. The terrace will be part of a green roof and feature a deck that is easily accessible from the cancer unit. It includes beautiful vistas of the area and incorporates benches and other spots for resting and healing. Glass panels will block the wind and create an unobstructed outlook.
  8. Cancer care therapy gym: A physical therapy gym is located in the teen cancer unit. The gym will serve the fitness and rehabilitation needs of all cancer patients. It will overlook the building’s rooftop terrace and have great views of mountains and surrounding neighborhoods. In the evenings, families of cancer patients can use the gym.
  9. Care team work spaces: The unit includes work spaces for caregivers in the room, on porches just outside the room and in centralized team stations within clear sight of rooms.
  10. Quiet rooms & family lounges: The expansion provides spaces for reflection, including quiet rooms and family lounges that support families away from a patient’s room.   Caregivers have asked for areas where discussions about diagnoses, care options and advice can take place – as well as meditation and alone time.  Private rooms will be available on both cancer floors offering families space for comfort and healing during their stay.

Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center ranks as one of the top ten pediatric cancer centers in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. Building Hope assures families of cancer patients they can always count on us to meet their child’s urgent and complex medical requirements while tailoring to a patient’s personal needs.

For Media

To arrange an interview to hear more about Building Hope, please contact Children’s PR team at 206-987-4500 or at [email protected].

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