Nationwide Children's Hospital kicks off $730 million facilities upgrade

Late last week, Nationwide Children's Hospital announced the details of a phase two master facilities plan encompassing about $730 million worth of investment. A centerpiece of the plan is a new freestanding facility fully dedicated to children and adolescents with behavioral health conditions.

The new Behavioral Health Pavilion will be eight stories at completion and house integrated behavioral health services, including a crisis and observation center and outpatient programs. It will also open with 48 inpatient beds, with space to house up to 66 inpatient beds, as well as capacity for additional inpatient units based on future patient need.

Located on the main campus, officials hope the Pavilion will foster collaboration with Nationwide Children's research team, as well as community partner agencies.

The building is slated to open in 2020, with a winter 2017 groundbreaking, with the total investment for the building coming in at $158 million. A $28 million parking garage is scheduled to be completed during the summer of 2020 to support the pavilion.

[Also: Updated list of hospital contruction and expansion projects in 2016]

The hospital will fund the expansion through a combination of operations, bonds and a philanthropic campaign. The fundraising effort will support the completion of the facilities included in the plan, as well as grow patient programs and research, ensure care for every child regardless of ability to pay, and fuel recruitment and retention of physicians, scientists and staff.

Phase two of the plan is expected to bring more changes and improvements. The Livingston Ambulatory Building, currently under construction, is slated to open during the summer of 2017, for instance. This five-story, 222,000-square-foot building will house ambulatory services including primary care, dental services, adolescent medicine and outpatient behavioral health services. A parking garage for the Livingston Ambulatory Center is scheduled to be completed that same summer.

The Hospital Tower, meanwhile, previously had unfinished areas to accommodate future growth. Fifty-one inpatient beds and five additional operating rooms will be added in 2017. And the current Main Campus Childcare Center for faculty and staff will be renovated both inside and out, allowing for upgraded playgrounds and improved green space around the building. It is scheduled to be completed in fall 2018.

The hospital's research facilities would also see a facelift. Research Building 3 previously had two unfinished floors that will be built out to accommodate the hospital's Good Manufacturing Process facility, "clean room" area, wet labs and research information services. A proposed Research Building 4 would open in late 2021 as a companion to Research Building 3, which will be approximately 220,000 square feet when approved and completed.

Expanding infrastructure is also a part of the master plan, with two new office buildings, an energy plant, and a data center slated for construction.

"Now is not the time to slow down," said Alex Fischer, board chair of Nationwide Children's, in a statement. "We are looking forward to accelerating the strategic plan because both clinical and research growth rates have far exceeded projections."

Here is the facility's rendering of the project:

Twitter: @JELagasse