UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh


UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, a hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, is the only hospital in Southwestern Pennsylvania dedicated solely to the care of infants, children, teens and young adults well into their 20's and beyond, generally stopping around age 26. UPMC Children's also sometimes even treats older adults that require pediatric care. Care is provided by more than 700 board-certified pediatricians and pediatric specialists. Children's also provides primary care and specialty care at over 30 locations throughout the Pittsburgh region, as well as clinical specialty services throughout western Pennsylvania at regional health care facilities. UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh was one of only eight pediatric hospitals in the United States to make U.S. News & World Report's 2010-11 Best Children's Hospitals Honor Roll and is ranked in all ten of the specialties evaluated by US News. Children's is also one of only eight children's hospitals in the United States to be named as a Leapfrog Top Hospital and was ranked sixth in the nation by Parents magazine.

History

Former Oakland neighborhood facility

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh was founded by a charter on March 18, 1887 and the first patients were admitted on June 4, 1890. The original hospital was housed in a donated mansion refurbished for medical use. The facility was quickly outgrown and two additions were added within ten years. After a small fire at the mansion, fundraising began for a much larger facility which was begun in 1926 at the DeSoto Street location in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh.
The oldest of these Children's Hospital buildings, dating to the 1930s, included an eight-story building, later called the DeSoto Wing, that included a cafe, gift shop and chapel. North and south additions to the original building were added in the 1950s followed by a ten-story tower, later referred to as the Main Tower, in 1986. The Main Tower also had a rooftop heliport and was the location of the emergency department and included rare elevators made by the Haughton Elevator Company. The Main Tower also included a 2-story subterranean parking garage with depictions on its walls of colorful stick figure children holding hands. This tower was connected to the older buildings and also included a connection to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital that was accessed through the 2nd and 4th floor.
The old Children's Hospital location was closed on May 2, 2009 when the hospital moved to the Lawrenceville location.
On December 18, 2009, UPMC announced plans to demolish the Former Children's hospital, which includes the building which sits on the corner of Fifth Avenue and DeSoto Street. However the blue banded main tower which was constructed in 1986 will remain as part of UPMC Presbyterian.
The demolition was taken in July 2010, and though it was scheduled to be finished October that year, the removal of asbestos and other factors delayed the progress until the demolition was complete in May, 2011. Later that month it is landscaped as park, although UPMC has plans to build a heart and transplant hospital on its footprint.
In October 2009 the movie "The Next Three Days" had few scenes shot in the old campus and portrayed as "University Hospital" Recognizable shots include underground parking garage, main lobby/entrance and elevator banks.

UPMC Merger

On April 5, 2001 CHP and UPMC announce a merger. As a part of the agreement, UPMC would provide CHP with $250 million in research support over 10 years, including funds for new faculty and facilities and also contribute $250 million toward a new hospital to replace Children's aging Oakland facilities. A few months later insurance company Highmark filed suit to block Children's planned merger with UPMC, claiming that UPMC could use the region's only pediatric hospital as part of a plan to build its own insurance business by blocking access to CHP for patients with other coverage. By Oct. 19, 2001 Highmark dropped the lawsuit against CHP when they were able to reach an agreement with UPMC. The merger was complete by October 31, 2001.

Talks of a new hospital

Ideas were floating around as early as 2000 when CHP conducted a study to determine the cost of renovating the original hospital on Fifth Avenue and DeSoto Street in Oakland. Throughout the years the additions created an environment that was confusing to navigate. Many different sets of elevators taking people to different places confused families. They determined it would cost about $185 million to upgrade electrical systems and rooms, but wouldn't address problems with the outdated hospital design itself.
Hospital administration instead refocused on building a brand new hospital or finding another building onto which a new children's hospital could be attached. A few sites were considered including a lot next to UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, which was ultimately not chosen due to the lack of expansion potential. A lot at LTV Steel site along the Monongahela River was also considered and turned down due to the potential cost of environmental cleanup that option entailed. Also, the area behind UPMC Montefiore was inquired upon but faced the same expansion problems as the Magee-Womens proposal.
As plans were being drawn up, leaders from the St. Francis Medical Center in Lawrenceville announced that they would be closing due to long term financial struggles. After financial donations from Highmark, UPMC officials decided to purchase the St. Francis Medical Center, providing large amounts of land and expansion potential.

New Hospital Campus

After acquiring the land, UPMC officials drew up plans for the site that included the demolition of a few buildings, but kept about 4 buildings from the old hospital, choosing to renovate them instead. The decision reduced overall construction costs for the project as not as many buildings were required to be constructed. Buildings still existing from St. Francis days include the Plaza Building, Faculty Building, Administrative Office Building, and the back half of the main hospital.
Early demolition of buildings not required started soon after the deal, and construction and renovations for CHP started in 2006 and completed in 2009.
When the hospital first opened, residents in Lawrenceville complained about the loud noises that the rooftop ventilation fans made and CHP officials were quick to hire acoustic engineers, spending around $250.000 to find a solution to the noise issues.
The hospital has 315 beds, with a 45-bed emergency department, a 36-bed pediatric intensive care unit, and a 12-bed cardiac intensive care unit. A ten-story research center is also on the campus, with seven out of the ten floors dedicated for pediatric medical research. The complex is environmentally friendly and "quiet". The Hospital also includes a Weight Management and Wellness Center to offer help to obese children. The Center assists children in the area with maintaining and achieving a healthy weight, while also treating weight related health issues.
The architect is Louis D. Astorino. The new hospital was named the 7th most beautiful hospital in the US by Soliant Health in 2010 and the 10th most beautiful hospital in the world by HealthExecNews in 2012.
Additionally, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh is connected to the Ronald McDonald House via a third floor walkway. Families are now just an elevator ride away from their children.

About

Patient Care Units

In addition to the patient care units the hospital also has 14 operating rooms and 4 procedure rooms.

Research

Children's Hospital's research heritage began in the earliest years of pediatric medicine and is filled with . Today, Children's research is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. They are one of the fastest growing pediatric research programs in the United States and rank seventh in National Institutes of Health grant funding.
The serves as the hub of pediatric research in Pittsburgh. In 2008, the research center transferred to a new state-of-the-art facility with nearly triple the space for research activities. The space accommodates 70 principal investigators and supports biomedical research, including genomics, cellular imaging, signal transduction, structural biology, immunology and neuroscience, among other fields.
The research center also houses a conference center and is home to the .

Clinical trials

Children's Hospital regularly conducts clinical trials to solve many of today's pediatric health challenges, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and liver and intestine transplantation.

Awards

In 2010, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh was one of only eight pediatric hospitals in the United States named to U.S. News and World Report's Best Children's Hospitals Honor Roll and was ranked in every specialty evaluated by US News. Children's has been consistently ranked among the nation's top pediatric hospitals by US News since 1990.
In 2009, Children's was one of only eight pediatric hospitals in the nation named a 2009 Leapfrog Top Hospital by the . This was the second year in a row that Children's has been named a Leapfrog Top Hospital.
In 2009, Children's was recognized for leading the way in advanced technology as the first and today's only pediatric hospital in the United States to achieve Stage 7 recognition from HIMSS Analytics for the use and implementation of electronic medical records. Stage 7 is HIMSS’ highest level of certification, achieved by only 0.5 percent of the more than 5,000 hospitals in the United States.
In 2009, KLAS, an independent health care research organization, recognized Children's as the leader in its use of health care information technology among pediatric hospitals in the United States. This is only the third time in 12 years that KLAS has recognized a specific health care organization for the depth of adoption of electronic health records.
In 2008, Children's was ranked 10th among children's hospitals in funding provided by the National Institutes of Health.

Pediatric specialty rankings

In 2016, it was ranked as the 7th best children's hospital in America by U.S. News and World Report and was ranked #10 in neonatology, #22 in cancer, #10 in cardiology, #3 in diabetes, #2 in gastroenterology and GI surgery, and #15 in nephrology, #10 in neurology, #44 in orthopedics, #6 in pulmonology, and # 16 in urology.
As of 2020, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh has placed nationally in all 10 ranked pediatric specialties on U.S. News and World Report and placed 8th overall on the honor roll.
In 2021 the hospital was ranked as the #9 best children's hospital in the United States by U.S. News and World Report on the publications' honor roll list.
SpecialtyRank Score
Neonatology#4863.6
Pediatric Cancer#3376.1
Pediatric Cardiology & Heart Surgery#386.2
Pediatric Diabetes & Endocrinology#686.0
Pediatric Gastroenterology & GI Surgery#788.6
Pediatric Nephrology#1387.5
Pediatric Neurology & Neurosurgery#1583.8
Pediatric Orthopedics#4564.4
Pediatric Pulmonology & Lung Surgery#682.9
Pediatric Urology#1083.9

Foundations