The team at Connecticut Children's marked their tenth annual Superhero Day by breaking ground on a new eight-story clinical tower.
“This is an historic event for us. The hospital is 27 years old, we have outgrown the facility and now we are getting ready to expand," said Jim Shmerling, president and CEO of Connecticut Children's.
The $280 million project will allow the hospital to expand current services and offer new services that haven't been available to children in the past.
“Fetal surgery. We will be able to do in utero surgery. That’s a new service that is not offered in Connecticut," said Shmerling. "A bone marrow transplant unit. Right now, children who require bone marrow transplants for cancer are having to leave the state of Connecticut and none of us are happy with that. This will allow them to stay in Connecticut and have a state of the art facility to be seen at.”
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The new tower will also feature 50 private NICU rooms and expanded kitchen faculties to serve patients, among other features. The expansion is expected to bring hundreds of jobs to Hartford, as the hospital increases its capacity.
"We expect children from across the country to come for some of these services so it is going to be great for Connecticut and, of course, great for children," said Shmerling.
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To celebrate the groundbreaking for the new tower, superheroes slid down the side of the building. Some of the superheroes also made their way inside to visit patients. Hospital staff said it is their favorite day of the year.
“To see that smile after having a lot of hard days in a row is a reminder for our staff of why we are here and why we are doing what we are doing," said Katie Robbins, a child life specialist at Connecticut Children's.
