The University Medical Center currently is completing the planning process of its new 172,000 square foot Children's Medical Center.
The $48 million facility will be located at the corner of Jefferson Park Avenue and West Main Street.
Construction on the project will begin when fundraising is complete. The University Medical Center already has $10 million budgeted toward construction costs, but it must raise the remaining $38 million through philanthropic donations, said R. Edward Howell, vice president and chief executive officer of the Medical Center.
"We are about to embark on a campaign that will make this vision a reality," Howell said.
Howell added he hopes construction will begin in the second half of 2007.
The new facility will be primarily outpatient, and will be equipped to see over 40,000 patients a year, said Margaret Van Bree, chief operations officer of the Medical Center.
"Our intention is to consolidate the Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center, primary care and specialty clinics throughout Grounds into one area," Van Bree said.
The Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center currently is located on Ivy Road, two miles from the heart of the University Medical Center.
Howell emphasized that caring for children also means caring for their families: he added that the new facility will include play areas and activities for siblings.
"Right now there is no single destination for children with medical needs and their families," Howell said. "The new facility will create a focus for these families."
The new facility will include a dedicated over-head link to the children's inpatient floor in the main hospital, Howell said.
The Blake Center, which currently stands at the corner of Jefferson Park Avenue and West Main Street, is an office building that will be relocated prior to the beginning of construction on the new Children's Medical Center. The new location of the Blake Center has yet to be determined.
"We recognize that we a need focus to provide the level of service that Virginia's smallest citizens deserve," Howell said.
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