Miller Children’s Secured Prop 3 Grant Funding from CHFFA To Finish Expansion Build Out

LONG BEACH, Calif. – September 14, 2010 – The Board of the California Health Facilities Financing Authority (CHFFA) unanimously voted to release prop 3 grant funding to Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach to complete its pavilion expansion project. The funds will be used to complete the second half of the level III NICU (24 beds) and build a pediatric hematology/oncology unit specially designed for the treatment of children with serious illnesses, such as childhood cancers and rare blood disorders. These units are being constructed in the shelled spaces of the recently constructed Miller Children’s pavilion.

“The grant will contribute to the expansion and improvement of health care access for children in our communities including those who rely on government sponsored health insurance programs and underserved children,” says Lupe Padilla, MD, Interim Chief Medical Officer, Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach. “It will result in the improvement of pediatric health care and outcomes, as well as expand pediatric teaching and research programs in the respective units.”

The 69-bed NICU recently expanded, becoming a 93-bed unit, and is still operating at more than 85 percent capacity. With the additional 24 NICU beds, the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit will be able to accommodate the growing needs of the community and families to timely access of critical care when it is needed for newborns and young infants. The unit is uniquely designed to provide the most advanced medical technology in an environment that is nurturing and supportive for the most critically ill and premature newborns and their families. Individual spaces for each infant create a calming environment and allow parents greater privacy when caring for their newborns within a supportive family centered care environment.

Currently, the hematology/oncology unit is licensed for 14 beds while the daily census for children with cancer and rare blood disorders averages from17 to 21 children. The additional 24 pediatric beds will allow Miller Children’s to provide greater access to care for more children with serious illnesses, cancer and rare blood disorders. The pediatric cancer unit will have a separate treatment room where procedures can be completed away from the child’s room, child life, play and family care areas, all within an infection controlled protected environment for immunocompromised children.

Miller Children’s anticipates construction to start September 2010. The NICU’s estimated move-in date is approximately mid-September 2011 and the pediatric/cancer unit’s move-in date is estimated to be in December 2011.

About Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach

Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach provides specialized pediatric care for children and young adults, with conditions ranging from common to complex—as well as maternity care for expectant mothers—all under one roof. Only five percent of all hospitals are children’s hospitals, making them unique not only to children’s health care needs in the community, but across the region. Miller Children’s is one of only eight free-standing children’s hospitals in California.