Meet the American Family Children's Hospital
From newborns to young adults, patients at the American Family Children's Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, receive a level of care that is truly unique in the region.
The state-of-the-art, $78 million American Family Children's Hospital at 1675 Highland Avenue replaced the existing UW Children's Hospital in August 2007.
Funding of the new children's hospital was supported by $41 million in philanthrophy, combined with $37 million in bonding. An initial $10 million flagship gift came from American Family Insurance in 2003.
American Family Children's Hospital Mission
The mission of the American Family Children's Hospital is to provide comprehensive health care of children and families in a healing environment that emphasizes their quality of life.
The American Family Children’s Hospital is committed to education, research and community service as a means of discovering new and better methods to meet the unique health care needs of children.
History of UW Children's Hospital
For more than three-quarters of a century, University of Wisconsin has reflected the values of Wisconsin communities by caring in a very special way for children facing illness, disease and life-threatening trauma.
In 1920, the Mary Cornelia Bradley Hospital for the Study of Children's Diseases became the first hospital to bring together UW's medical research and academic training for health care professionals to save the lives of the area's sickest children. The Bradley hospital evolved into the Children's and Orthopedic Hospital in the 1930s, and eventually the University's facility dedicated to caring for children became University of Wisconsin Children's Hospital, a part of University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics.
Through the years, these three hospitals experimented with models of care that helped decrease infection, reduce pain, control contagious disease and increasingly found ways to allow children who stayed for long periods to live more normal lives.
UW Children's Hospital evolved into a complete 62-bed medical and surgical center which annually admits approximately 2,600 inpatients and handles 107,000 outpatient visits.
Growing Pains
Housed within the UW Hospital and Clinics facility, UW Children's Hospital began to outgrow its space, and the facility no longer matched the quality of care that its expert physicians and staff provided.
Space in the old UW Children's Hospital was seriously lacking in size and child-friendly quality, especially for those patients who are confined to their room for weeks at a time.
Inpatient rooms were very cramped. At 125 square feet in size, a typical room offered very few ammenities needed by families who are staying with their hosptalized children. Moreover, because it was subsumed within the UW Hospital and Clinics building, UW Children's Hospital had very limited ability to create a unique, child-friendly atmosphere.
A Bright Future
In August 2007, the state-of-the-art, $78 million American Family Children's Hospital opened its doors.
With inpatient rooms approximately double in size of UW Children's Hospital, the 60-bed American Family Children's Hospital was designed to provide patients and families from throughout Wisconsin a place to heal in a soothing, child-friendly environment.
Medical scientists - UW physicians and researchers preeminent among them - have now all but eliminated many diseases that afflicted children in the past century. Despite our medical advances, however, children continue to get sick and injured. Filled with dreams and unlimited potential, children deserve the best care in the best possible place.
Today, at American Family Children's Hospital, infants through teenagers receive specialized pediatric care from UW pediatricians who are nationally and internationally known for their clinical research, specifically in the areas of childhood cancer, pulmonology, juvenile diabetes, genetics, transplantation and asthma.
BP 2008 ~ Meet the American Family Children's Hospital
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1ST FLOOR - Main Lobby and the Robert and Jean Rennebohm Diagnostic and Therapy Center
Theme: Wisconsin Avenue
Walk through the front doors of American Family Children's Hospital and you may not believe your eyes. Hardly what a child or parent might expect upon entering a hospital, this space is reminiscent of a "Town Square" in a typical Wisconsin community.
Visitors encounter an almost Disney-like, small-town Wisconsin environment from the moment they step off the elevators. Tractor tire tracks lead you to the security office, with its crimped metal walls designed to look like a grain silo.
Just as the farmland gives way to the city while driving Wisconsin's countryside, a train station "Guest Depot" greets visitors as they turn the corner, along with a pharmacy and gift shop that has the look and feel of an old-time community drug store.
Colorful barber poles twirl outside the façade of a barber shop near a cobblestone alley, and a flashing movie theater marquee welcomes you to the Pierce Family Theater, where patients and families can take in a film or DVD during their stay. The marquee and brick façade of the theater are among the more whimsical elements of the hospital’s interior design.
Just outside the theater, a faux sugar maple tree's full fall foliage towers above park benches and a fireplace in the main lobby's sunny atrium, as visitors round the bend to the Lake Michigan beach area – complete with a replica of the 74-year-old Fond du Lac lighthouse and footprints etched in the watery blue and sand-colored flooring.
Wisconsin Avenue is home to many "must-see places," such as:
Guest Depot - All aboard! The Guest Depot serves as the welcome center and reception station for all patients and visitors. Modeled after an old-fashioned train station, the Guest Depot is staffed during normal visiting hours (7am-9pm daily). A gift from Friends of University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, the Guest Depot also will provide health screenings for visitors to keep our patients healthy.
Pierce Family Theater - A place to sit and watch a film or DVD
Tyler’s Place - A sibling care center providing supervised care for brothers and sisters of patients, adjacent to a replica of the Fond du Lac Lighthouse.
Wisconsin Avenue Pharmacy and Gifts - A modern-day pharmacy and gift shop with the look and feel of an old-time community drug store.
Family Resource Center - A library-like facility where families can learn, use computers, check e-mail and meet other families.
Kohl's Safety Center - A community resource for child safety products.
Robert and Jean Rennebohm Diagnostic and Therapy Center
- This special procedures clinic is a "day hospital" for patients undergoing sedation or procedures, such as chemotherapy or dialysis, without requiring an overnight stay
Sub-Zero Foundation Skyway and "Shape the Way" Bridge - This bridge connects American Family Children's Hospital to UW Hospital and Clinics. Adorning the windows are Shape the Way tiles purchased by donors who wish to honor a friend or loved one.
Picnic Point Cafe - Patients, visitors or staff looking for a quick bite to eat will have plenty of choices.
Entertainment Stage - An area offering an attractive, easy-to-find location for musical performances, press conferences and other public gatherings at the American Family Children's Hospital.
Flad Family Chapel - Worship, meditation and reflection are often very helpful to a family whose child is hospitalized. The Flad Family Chapel provides a comforting environment for family members. In the future, closed-circuit television will broadcast events in the chapel throughout the American Family Children's Hospital and UW Hospital and Clinics.
Friends of UW Hospital and Clinics Community Room - This spacious room will be available for support group functions and educational/informational sessions for patients and families. This room can also be used as an overflow room for the Flad Family Chapel.
Day Treatment - In years past, many treatments provided for children were only performed on an inpatient basis. Today, children come to one of six Day Treatment Rooms so they can return home after chemotherapy, antibiotic infusions, transfusions or other treatments. Each room includes a TV/DVD player and CD player.
Theme: Wisconsin Avenue
Walk through the front doors of American Family Children's Hospital and you may not believe your eyes. Hardly what a child or parent might expect upon entering a hospital, this space is reminiscent of a "Town Square" in a typical Wisconsin community.
Visitors encounter an almost Disney-like, small-town Wisconsin environment from the moment they step off the elevators. Tractor tire tracks lead you to the security office, with its crimped metal walls designed to look like a grain silo.
Just as the farmland gives way to the city while driving Wisconsin's countryside, a train station "Guest Depot" greets visitors as they turn the corner, along with a pharmacy and gift shop that has the look and feel of an old-time community drug store.
Colorful barber poles twirl outside the façade of a barber shop near a cobblestone alley, and a flashing movie theater marquee welcomes you to the Pierce Family Theater, where patients and families can take in a film or DVD during their stay. The marquee and brick façade of the theater are among the more whimsical elements of the hospital’s interior design.
Just outside the theater, a faux sugar maple tree's full fall foliage towers above park benches and a fireplace in the main lobby's sunny atrium, as visitors round the bend to the Lake Michigan beach area – complete with a replica of the 74-year-old Fond du Lac lighthouse and footprints etched in the watery blue and sand-colored flooring.
Wisconsin Avenue is home to many "must-see places," such as:
Guest Depot - All aboard! The Guest Depot serves as the welcome center and reception station for all patients and visitors. Modeled after an old-fashioned train station, the Guest Depot is staffed during normal visiting hours (7am-9pm daily). A gift from Friends of University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, the Guest Depot also will provide health screenings for visitors to keep our patients healthy.
Pierce Family Theater - A place to sit and watch a film or DVD
Tyler’s Place - A sibling care center providing supervised care for brothers and sisters of patients, adjacent to a replica of the Fond du Lac Lighthouse.
Wisconsin Avenue Pharmacy and Gifts - A modern-day pharmacy and gift shop with the look and feel of an old-time community drug store.
Family Resource Center - A library-like facility where families can learn, use computers, check e-mail and meet other families.
Kohl's Safety Center - A community resource for child safety products.
Robert and Jean Rennebohm Diagnostic and Therapy Center
- This special procedures clinic is a "day hospital" for patients undergoing sedation or procedures, such as chemotherapy or dialysis, without requiring an overnight stay
Sub-Zero Foundation Skyway and "Shape the Way" Bridge - This bridge connects American Family Children's Hospital to UW Hospital and Clinics. Adorning the windows are Shape the Way tiles purchased by donors who wish to honor a friend or loved one.
Picnic Point Cafe - Patients, visitors or staff looking for a quick bite to eat will have plenty of choices.
Entertainment Stage - An area offering an attractive, easy-to-find location for musical performances, press conferences and other public gatherings at the American Family Children's Hospital.
Flad Family Chapel - Worship, meditation and reflection are often very helpful to a family whose child is hospitalized. The Flad Family Chapel provides a comforting environment for family members. In the future, closed-circuit television will broadcast events in the chapel throughout the American Family Children's Hospital and UW Hospital and Clinics.
Friends of UW Hospital and Clinics Community Room - This spacious room will be available for support group functions and educational/informational sessions for patients and families. This room can also be used as an overflow room for the Flad Family Chapel.
Day Treatment - In years past, many treatments provided for children were only performed on an inpatient basis. Today, children come to one of six Day Treatment Rooms so they can return home after chemotherapy, antibiotic infusions, transfusions or other treatments. Each room includes a TV/DVD player and CD player.
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2ND FLOOR - Pediatric Specialty Clinics
Theme: Farms
Pediatric Specialty Clinics
From cardiology to cancer, all outpatient appointments for more than 30 specialty pediatric clinics will take place in this beautiful space on Level 2. Thirty-five exam rooms, plus teaching and education space, special procedure rooms, radiology, labs and rehabilitation space are all housed here.
Friends of UW Hospital and Clinics Positive Image Center
An especially unique hallmark of Level 2 is the Friends of University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Positive Image Center - the only one in the nation to focus solely on kids. Here, children can ease their anxiety about appearance-altering illnesses or procedures.
From wigs to hats to makeup application, the Friends of University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Positive Image Center will support each child in a way that responds to his or her own physical and emotional needs and desires.
3RD FLOOR -To be completed as part of the second phase of American Family Children's Hospital construction
4TH FLOOR - Pediatric Inpatient Unit and UW Medical Foundation Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
Theme: Prairies
Level 4 features inpatient care for children who are acutely ill, have just come out of surgery or who are being treated for cancer or conditions requiring the services of specialists in neuroscience, plastic surgery or ENT (ear, nose and throat).
Home to the state-of-the-art 16-bed Pediatric Inpatient Unit and 21-bed UW Medical Foundation Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Level 4 is designed especially for families whose children may be hospitalized for longer stays. Special amenities on Level 4 include five Ronald McDonald House Charities parent sleep rooms, two family lounges and an exercise room.
Pediatric Inpatient Unit
This unit provides specialized space for patients and families facing especially challenging illnesses, such as cancer. This floor is home to the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and a lead-lined MIBG room for advanced treatment of a rare form of pediatric cancer. Level 4 also features its own school room and playroom in an infection-controlled environment.
UW Medical Foundation Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
With a soothing look and feel, the UW Medical Foundation PICU environment enhances a child's ability to heal by providing a strong sense of calm and tranquility, while simultaneously offering the very latest technology to support the child's care needs.
Theme: Farms
Pediatric Specialty Clinics
From cardiology to cancer, all outpatient appointments for more than 30 specialty pediatric clinics will take place in this beautiful space on Level 2. Thirty-five exam rooms, plus teaching and education space, special procedure rooms, radiology, labs and rehabilitation space are all housed here.
Friends of UW Hospital and Clinics Positive Image Center
An especially unique hallmark of Level 2 is the Friends of University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Positive Image Center - the only one in the nation to focus solely on kids. Here, children can ease their anxiety about appearance-altering illnesses or procedures.
From wigs to hats to makeup application, the Friends of University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Positive Image Center will support each child in a way that responds to his or her own physical and emotional needs and desires.
3RD FLOOR -To be completed as part of the second phase of American Family Children's Hospital construction
4TH FLOOR - Pediatric Inpatient Unit and UW Medical Foundation Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
Theme: Prairies
Level 4 features inpatient care for children who are acutely ill, have just come out of surgery or who are being treated for cancer or conditions requiring the services of specialists in neuroscience, plastic surgery or ENT (ear, nose and throat).
Home to the state-of-the-art 16-bed Pediatric Inpatient Unit and 21-bed UW Medical Foundation Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Level 4 is designed especially for families whose children may be hospitalized for longer stays. Special amenities on Level 4 include five Ronald McDonald House Charities parent sleep rooms, two family lounges and an exercise room.
Pediatric Inpatient Unit
This unit provides specialized space for patients and families facing especially challenging illnesses, such as cancer. This floor is home to the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and a lead-lined MIBG room for advanced treatment of a rare form of pediatric cancer. Level 4 also features its own school room and playroom in an infection-controlled environment.
UW Medical Foundation Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
With a soothing look and feel, the UW Medical Foundation PICU environment enhances a child's ability to heal by providing a strong sense of calm and tranquility, while simultaneously offering the very latest technology to support the child's care needs.
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5TH FLOOR - Children and Adolescent Inpatient Unit
Theme: Woods
Patient Rooms
Rooms with room. This is what children and families need, and this is what they will have on Level 5. As the child's room is really a "home base," it was clear that extra space was a must in the new hospital.
Level 5 includes 24 general care inpatient rooms that are more than double the size of those in the old hospital. Patients and families will have a desk, phone, internet access, patient-controlled TV/DVD units, and other spaces and services to meet their needs. Each patient room is also equipped with a private bathroom and sleeping accommodations for a parent.
Hospital School and Friends of UW Hospital and Clinics Playroom
Of course, kids do not stop being kids just because they are in the hospital. They want to play and learn, and Level 5 is home to a playroom and a school room.
Staffed by three Madison Metropolitan School District teachers, the Hospital School ensures that patients keep up with their studies so they are not behind when they return to their regular school.
Patients also have a special place to just be kids in the Friends of University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Playroom, staffed by Child Life specialists and volunteers.
6TH FLOOR -To be completed as part of the second phase of American Family Children's Hospital construction
Theme: Woods
Patient Rooms
Rooms with room. This is what children and families need, and this is what they will have on Level 5. As the child's room is really a "home base," it was clear that extra space was a must in the new hospital.
Level 5 includes 24 general care inpatient rooms that are more than double the size of those in the old hospital. Patients and families will have a desk, phone, internet access, patient-controlled TV/DVD units, and other spaces and services to meet their needs. Each patient room is also equipped with a private bathroom and sleeping accommodations for a parent.
Hospital School and Friends of UW Hospital and Clinics Playroom
Of course, kids do not stop being kids just because they are in the hospital. They want to play and learn, and Level 5 is home to a playroom and a school room.
Staffed by three Madison Metropolitan School District teachers, the Hospital School ensures that patients keep up with their studies so they are not behind when they return to their regular school.
Patients also have a special place to just be kids in the Friends of University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Playroom, staffed by Child Life specialists and volunteers.
6TH FLOOR -To be completed as part of the second phase of American Family Children's Hospital construction
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very much for the hospital tour, Theresa!
What a thoughtfully-designed facility this is. And any parent who has spent hours on end with a sick child in a cramped hospital room will appreciate the room design at American Family Children's Hospital. Adding a place for a parent to sleep, and a desk and Internet access will certainly help pass the hours in more comfort, and make it seem much more home-like and less threatening.
I love the way they have designed so many facilities that stress the continuation of a normal life--the playrooms and schoolroom and the Positive Image Center. It's not all about being sick. Since many patients spend a lot of time in the hospital, the cheerful surroundings will make a big difference.
Part-Time Poet
What a thoughtfully-designed facility this is. And any parent who has spent hours on end with a sick child in a cramped hospital room will appreciate the room design at American Family Children's Hospital. Adding a place for a parent to sleep, and a desk and Internet access will certainly help pass the hours in more comfort, and make it seem much more home-like and less threatening.
I love the way they have designed so many facilities that stress the continuation of a normal life--the playrooms and schoolroom and the Positive Image Center. It's not all about being sick. Since many patients spend a lot of time in the hospital, the cheerful surroundings will make a big difference.
Part-Time Poet
Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.
-- J. M. Barrie
-- J. M. Barrie
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Looks very impressive. As a parent of a chronically ill child, I know how detrimental institutionalisation of any person but especially children can be for their physical AND mental health. Inspiring, well equiped surroundings for both patient and his or her family are just as much part of the treatment.
Great cause!
Great cause!
One minute I’m mushing along with the huskies as usual, and all of a sudden it’s global warming.