Dayton Children's patient tower turns 1 year old!

It’s one of the most memorable moments for any family – when a child turns one year old. Dayton Children’s is celebrating that milestone for the new patient tower with the thousands of children and families who benefited from all that’s inside. 

On July 16, 2017, Dayton Children’s staff moved the first patients into the tower.  One of those children was Jayda Tincher.  Born a few weeks earlier, weighing only 2 pounds and 9 ounces, Jayda was brought to Dayton Children’s newborn intensive care unit. She and her mom, Hannah, made the momentous move into the new tower as one of the very first patients on the new NICU.  There, not only did she get the time and attention from a dedicated team to help her gain weight and grow strong, she benefited from the most advanced technology available. 

A year later, both Jayda and Dayton Children’s are celebrating the milestone of a year gone by! After spending six weeks in the NICU, Jayda got to go home and today she is meeting all her growth milestones as a giggly and happy 1 year old.

“We had a great experience at Dayton Children’s,” says Hannah Tincher, Jayda’s mom. “Each member of the team helped Jayda get bigger and stronger. And getting to move into the tower was just icing on the cake!”

 

watch patient move day - July 16, 2017.

For Dayton Children’s patient tower, the milestones have come in the form of how care has been transformed for our patients including the use of new technologies and new spaces for patient activities and treatments.

The celebration is also extended to all those who gave financially to make the patient tower a reality. Over 1,200 people gave to the Reaching New Heights campaign including Dayton Children’s employees and community members. And while all that has happened inside these walls has been important, it’s what happens outside our walls, when kids get to go home, that make it all worthwhile.

"Each space inside the new patient care tower was created to embody Dayton Children’s unique patient care mission and to facilitate the delivery of world-class pediatric care," says Deborah Feldman, president and CEO. "Patients, families, physicians and staff all gave input to create an operationally efficient, supportive environment that includes a flexible and innovative technology infrastructure. For Jayda in the NICU, that included single family rooms, customizable spaces for each babies unique needs and a dedicated milk lab.”

"But that is not all. We've been able to admit more children when they need us.  We've provided the care that directly suits their needs. We've kept families connected with the NICVIEW web cams from as far away as India and Australia. We've kept children more comfortable with entertainment systems and therapy programs.  At the same time, we've made it fun - with events such as a tree lighting at the holidays or a solar eclipse viewing party on our Skydeck. When a child is in the hospital, they need more - and we are proud to be able to offer that!"

The 260,000 square-foot patient care tower is part of a long-term campus facilities plan that is creating a campus that meets the needs of patients, families and care providers well into the future. These new care spaces embody Dayton Children’s unique patient care mission and offer places that facilitate the delivery of world-class pediatric care.

Key design elements of the patient tower include:

• Continuity of care - The new Comprehensive Cancer and Blood Disorders Center is a combined inpatient and outpatient unit and includes a pharmacy, infusion rooms for chemotherapy and an enhanced patient experience with dedicated child life specialists, indoor/outdoor play spaces, multiple space for family/patient interaction and a teen room.
• Better outcomes – The Newborn Intensive Care Unit further enhances the commitment to family-centered and developmentally-sensitive care through single-family room design which has been proven to increase skin-to-skin contact, enhance success rates of breastfeeding, further reduce infection and noise, and increase privacy – ultimately creating better outcomes for the region’s most fragile babies. The new NICU also has a dedicated milk lab.
• Critical care technology – The critical care complex is a custom designed space to maximize efficiency and patient safety, while also providing more space for technology and family comfort for our most critically-ill and injured children in the pediatric intensive care unit and technology-dependent patients in our transitional care unit.
• Optimal healing environment: Patients requiring an overnight stay will benefit from the enhanced general pediatrics inpatient unit which will feature larger single-family rooms, improved technology and upgraded family amenities.