Seattle Children’s Opens the New Front Door to the Hospital

The exterior of the Forest B building on Seattle Children's Hospital campus
“Forest B is a critical addition to Seattle Children’s, given our region’s incredible historic and anticipated growth,” said Mandy Hansen, senior director of planning, design, and construction at Seattle Children’s. “The building gives our care teams the space they need to provide lifesaving and life-changing treatments, surgeries and procedures to even more patients in the coming years. The thoughtful design will also help us integrate more of our breakthrough research into the clinical care environment as we tirelessly work toward cures.”

With eight floors above ground, one below ground and three levels of underground parking, patients visiting the new building will experience:

  • Eight new operating rooms (ORs)
  • Two catheterization labs
  • 20 additional inpatient rooms
  • New outpatient clinical space for the Cancer and Blood Disorders Center (CBDC)
  • Outpatient infusion center
  • Additional retail pharmacy and new inpatient pharmacy
  • New laboratory space and new sterile processing space

In addition to allowing Seattle Children’s to care for more patients, Forest B was also designed to support transformative, patient-centered care. For children and families, that means starting and ending their journey with ease so they can focus on the care and not the process; providing time and space to decompress and take a breath when they walk through the front door; and having access to the right amenities in the right locations without being overwhelmed with information. For providers and care teams, it means optimizing the work environment so they can focus on patient care and having dedicated amenities and respite spaces so they can step away and recharge.

The new Cancer and Blood Disorder Clinic (CBDC) establishes an on-campus partnership between Seattle Children’s and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Previously, oncology patients had to travel between facilities for different types of care. Now, all care comes directly to the patient from start to finish. Flexible, universal design integrates space for a large multidisciplinary team of care providers and researchers to work side by side while reducing travel for patients and families.

The new ORs and catheterization labs are designed with an induction room, allowing family members to stay with their child as long as possible before a surgery or procedure. This has been shown to reduce stress and has the potential to improve patient outcomes. Families have access to a variety of waiting and respite spaces with daylight and views.

Learn more about Forest B.