The Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency's Certificate of Need Board has approved the Children's Hospital of Alabama's plans for a 700,000 square foot-plus, $480 million replacement/expansion facility on its downtown Birmingham campus.
In addition, Children's was approved to add 57 licensed beds to its existing 275 bed capacity. Children's CON application came before the CON Board uncontested.
Construction on the new facility is expected to begin in early 2009, and will be located on the block directly north of the current hospital and will incorporate its existing buildings and the Children's Harbor facility.
The Children's Board of Trustees granted approval in January 2008 to proceed with planning for a possible hospital facility expansion that would relieve crowding in the current building, help to accommodate projected growth in patient volumes, and allow for anticipated medical technology needs and planned consolidation of pediatric services.
The new facility and campus will be named the Benjamin Russell Hospital for Children in honor of the entrepreneur Benjamin Russell (1876-1941). The renaming will occur with the opening of the new facility, anticipated sometime in 2012, and is in recognition of a $25 million gift in support of Children's Hospital made by Russell's grandson, Ben - a Children's Hospital board member - and his wife Luanne.
The Children's Hospital of Alabama, is the flagship facility of Children's Health System, and is the only free-standing hospital in Alabama dedicated solely to the care and treatment of children. It is one of the 10 busiest pediatric medical centers in the United States.
Children's Hospital is also the primary site for all pediatric medical education programs and patient care activities through an affiliation with the University of Alabama-Birmingham School of Medicine and the Health Services Foundation. The Children's Hospital of Alabama is a private not-for-profit hospital.