Children's Hospital Colorado - Colorado Springs
This six-level facility offers orthopedics, neurology, audiology, endocrinology, and the first pediatric-only operating rooms and emergency department in Colorado Springs.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Children's Hospital Colorado
Cannon Design
280,000
Bringing care closer to home
The Big Picture
This new facility, connected to UCHealth Memorial Hospital North in Colorado Springs via a pedestrian bridge, provides Southern Colorado with desperately needed, world-class medical care for children. The modern, high-tech facility includes eight operating rooms, 31 emergency rooms, 110 beds, along with neonatal and pediatric intensive care rooms. Children’s provides treatment for both urgent and long-term health issues. It is lauded as a huge benefit to the community, a place of refuge for patients and families as they face serious diseases and injuries.
Ingenuity in Action
Once GE Johnson broke ground on the Children’s Hospital of Colorado – Colorado Springs, the project team initiated a program called the Kid of the Quarter. A program that builds a personal bridge between the construction team and the children who will benefit from this hospital.
To better connect with the hospital and its patients, the Kid of the Quarter program invited a brave girl or boy who has received care at Children’s Hospital to share their story. In return, the project team welcomed them to the jobsite where they were introduced to the entire construction team of over 300 people and taught about safety, processes, machinery, and all aspects of the construction of their new hospital.
The program offered each Kid of the Quarter participant an opportunity to leave their mark on the new hospital by signing one of the steel beams as they tour through the unfinished grounds and they may even have the chance to call up to the crane operator or place the first door frame in the future NICU.
Each child’s story was posted throughout the jobsite, giving workers and project leaders a daily boost of motivation and personal connection to the project. The program was embraced by all contracting partners on site, with one project partner sponsoring a new child each quarter.
In line with GE Johnson’s mission to enrich our communities, this program brought life to the team by giving back and reminding them that what they are building will provide life-saving treatment to children for years to come.
The little details
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Prefabrication of exterior panels accelerated the schedule and enhanced quality of installation.
- Bright colors and intricate patterns on the floors and walls and ample natural light from windows throughout the building give a warm and sense of home to the children.
- A creative play area is located at the main entrance to hospital for all children to play, whether they are seeking medical care or visiting a sibling or friend.
- Child Life / Play Area located on levels 4 and 5, on patient overnight floors let them be kids, release their energy, and express themselves.