Palliative CareCenter & Hospice of the North Shore (PCCHNS) is pleased to announce the promotion of Anne Rossiter to Senior Director of Philanthropy. She was formerly Director of PCCHNS' $15 million Capital Campaign and has been pivotal in raising $10.1 million toward the campaign's goal.

"Anne's strong team leadership skills, her inclusive management style and her drive will serve PCCHNS well as the fundraising arm of our organization expands," said Dorothy L. Pitner, President & CEO. "We look forward to Anne's continued leadership within the Development Department."

PCCHNS is currently constructing a new building in Glenview, Illinois, which will serve as its headquarters. The building, which is scheduled to be completed in June 2005, will include 56,000-square-feet of space, centralizing the organization’s operations and allowing space for future growth.

Doctors, patients, public health officials and local elected officials recently announced the opening of Sinai Children’s Hospital.

Sinai Children’s Hospital uses the best children’s doctors from Mount Sinai Hospital, Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, Sinai Medical Group and Sinai Community Institute to provide comprehensive care. Located within the Sinai Health System campus in Chicago’s Lawndale community, Sinai Children’s Hospital is dedicated to improving the health of children through high-quality patient care, education research and advocacy.

Alan Channing, CEO of Sinai Health System, discusses Sinai Children’s Hospital’s dedication to creating a healthy, nurturing environment within the hospital and in the community.

Sinai Children’s Hospital Wellness Programs include courses and counsel on parenting, nutrition, asthma maintenance, obesity, violence prevention, mental health services, rehabilitation services and how to apply for KidCare insurance.

Families throughout the Chicago area will benefit from the comprehensive services provided at Sinai Children’s Hospital. Sinai Children’s Hospital physicians are specialists in over 20 areas so parents can be assured that their children are getting the right care from the best doctors.

Sinai Children's Hospital offers a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (the highest designation for this service). The unit is staffed 24 hours by neonatologists, with access to the full range of pediatric sub-specialists. Sinai Children’s Hospital’s trauma center has a special intensive care unit (ICU) that features customized beds and equipment to better treat children.

Sinai Children's Hospital earned its designation from the Illinois Department of Public Aid in June 2003. The designation required the fulfillment of three major criteria: state certification as a Level III perinatal care facility; a Medicaid inpatient utilization rate of at least 55 percent; and more than 10,000 inpatient days for Medicaid-eligible children.

The University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, the newest pediatric hospital in the city, opens this winter. The $135-million facility, designed to be at the forefront of pediatric care, provides a state-of-the-art, family-focused environment for all in-patient pediatric services at the University of Chicago Hospitals.

The new hospital is named after Gary C. Comer, founder of the Lands’ End clothing-catalogue company, and his wife, Frances, who together donated $21 million to help build the facility. This matches the largest donation ever presented to the University of Chicago Hospitals. It’s the fourth largest naming gift to any children’s hospital in the United States.

Construction began on the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital in 2001. The 242,000-square-foot, 155-bed, seven-story building is home to nationally recognized programs in cardiology, neurology, neonatology, transplantation and other medical and surgical specialties. It’s more than twice the size of the current children’s hospital, which covers 95,000 square feet and has 140 beds.

Comer Children’s Hospital extends north to south from 57th Street to 58th Street, and east to west from Drexel Avenue to Maryland Avenue. It’s 354 feet long and 133 feet wide. Bridges, tunnels and walkways connect it to the Bernard A. Mitchell Hospital, the adult in-patient facility, and the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine, which houses both the outpatient pediatric and adult specialty clinics.

"We couldn’t have done this without the tremendous support of Gary and Frances Comer," said Michael Riordan, president and chief executive officer of the University of Chicago Hospitals. "Their generous donation enables Comer Children’s Hospital to be the best in providing pediatric health care."

The new hospital provides the optimal setting for the rapidly advancing technologies of pediatric medicine. It includes two 30-bed medical/surgical units, predominantly private rooms. It includes a two-story, 30-bed pediatric intensive care unit, more than twice the capacity of the current unit. The neonatal intensive care unit, at 55 beds, already the largest in the Midwest, expanded to 65 beds and doubled the space per bed. The new hospital has six surgical suites, with operating rooms, 21 preoperative areas and recovery rooms designed to suit the specific needs of pediatric and newborn surgical patients.

Designed for Family-Focused Care
Comer Children's Hospital unites advanced technology with a family-focused, kid-friendly philosophy embraced at the University of Chicago Children's Hospital. Two architecture firms worked together to design Comer Children’s Hospital. Stanley Beaman & Sears, based in Atlanta, was responsible for the building’s exterior. A team from the Chicago office of HLM Design planned the hospital’s interior. Design input also came from doctors, nurses and staff as well as patients and their families.

The result was a hospital where children and their families have a level of control over their environment. Patient rooms are big enough to accommodate family members – 308 square feet, compared to the 177 square feet of the current children’s hospital – and include a pullout sofa bed for parents and flat-screen TVs from which children can access on-demand movies, music, appropriate Web sites and e-mail. Patients can regulate the climate and lighting of their rooms and adjust the height of the showerhead in their bathroom. They also can order food from a menu and have it delivered similar via "room service" style.

Herbert T. Abelson, M.D., George M. Eisenberg Professor and former chairman of the department of pediatrics at The University of Chicago Hospitals, funded the Health Professions Library, located on the first floor. It provides resources for the hospital’s multidisciplinary staff.

The Family Care Center, located on the second floor near the neonatal intensive care unit, provides accommodations for families facing longer stays. The center includes eight sleeping rooms with private bathrooms and showers, laundry facilities and a vending machine area. A family kitchen is located on the sixth floor.

The Family Learning Center is a resource area for adults on the main floor. It provides computers with Internet access, books, videos, and other tools for learning about childhood health and illnesses. The center offers educational and supportive services that include training for post-hospital care, preventive and wellness education, information about recreational opportunities, and places to stay in the Chicago area as well as reading games, computer games and videos for patients and their siblings.

A 5,000-square-foot outdoor playground provides challenging, yet accessible play equipment for children of all abilities. Small play areas also can be found inside the hospital on floors three through six. The largest indoor play area – the Family Central Playroom – is on the main floor.

A 6,000-square-foot Healing Garden, located on Comer Children’s Hospital’s fourth floor, will be completed in 2006. It will provide a therapeutic environment where patients, families and staff can find relief from stress.