Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Liberty Campus facts:
Square feet: 232,191
Emergency exam rooms: 22
Surgical suites: 8
Observation (short-stay) beds: 12
Pediatric medical and surgical clinics: More than 25
Number of On site employees: More than 400
LIBERTY TWP. — During Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s first year, area unemployment figures reached double digits and area hospitals announced job and service cuts.
But numbers at the 7777 Yankee Road location were better than expected.
As the facility approaches its one-year anniversary today, Aug. 11, officials say more than 117,000 patients have visited the facility and more than 25,000 visited the emergency room, surpassing projections by 6 percent and 25 percent, respectively.
Children’s Liberty Campus Business Director Jamie Theiss isn’t surprised.
“When parents have tough choices to make, when they have less resources, health care for their kids will always remain high on their list,” Theiss said.
Officials credit the three-story, brick and glass building’s location between Dayton and Cincinnati, which reduces the commute for a quarter of its patients, who once traveled an hour to its facility in Cincinnati.
They also say the facility’s “kid friendly” design helps, too. Features include a butterfly wall, floor games along some walkways and play areas. Janet Winebar, clinical director in perioperative administration at Children’s, said the goal was for the design to be homey, a safe environment for kids and a good place for employees to work.
“In our surgery room, (for example) when kids walked in we didn’t want it to feel like its a hospital. There’s a couch in the room instead of a waiting room chair. There’s a play area. We wanted them to feel calmed by the environment.”
Kelli Kurtz, 39, of Liberty Twp. and her three sons, Evan, 12, Ben, 8, and Connor, 6, have visited the facility frequently.
At age 6, Ben was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease or PKD, an inherited renal disorder characterized by the presence of multiple cysts in both kidneys.
Before the Liberty Campus opened, Kurtz said Ben missed a half day of school for about an hour long trip to Children’s in Cincinnati.
The Liberty Campus is just 10 minutes away, she said.
“It’s made such a big difference for us,” Kurtz said. “There’s no more anxiety about going to Children’s (in Cincinnati). We can go to Liberty and it’s like a routine doctor’s appointment rather than going to a hospital.”
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