CHOP opens new hospital in Montgomery County
52-bed hospital also features 24⁄7 pediatrics ER
UPPER MERION » When Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia announced in June 2018 that is was planning to construct a second inpatient hospital — it chose Montgomery County.
The new hospital, located on Goddard Boulevard in Upper Merion officially opened its doors today, Wednesday, Jan. 26. It is CHOP’s first hospital outside the city of Philadelphia, and brings the health system’s expertise and specialization in treating children — from birth to age 18 — to the western suburbs.
The Middleman Family Pavilion is a 250,000-square-foot facility adjacent to CHOP’s existing Specialty and Urgent Care Centers in Upper Merion.
It features 52 private inpatient rooms, including a 36-bed medical surgical unit and a 16-bed pediatric intensive care unit. Plans are already underway to add another 56 inpatient rooms over the next several years.
The facility has four operating rooms; a pharmacy, lab and blood bank; comprehensive radiology services and care for a broad range of pediatric specialties including: orthopedics, plastic surgery and ear, nose and throat (ENT).
The new facility also features the Madlyn K. Abramson Emergency Department — the first dedicated 24/7 pediatric emergency department in the King of Prussia area, according to the hospital.
In addition to high-level emergency medical care, patient families will have access to pediatricspecific support services, including child life specialists, pediatric behavioral health providers, and advanced telemedicine consultation.
Planning for the new hospital began in 2017, and according to Jan Boswinkel, MD, senior vice president and chief operating officer of the Middleman Family Pavilion, planners kept several goals in mind.
“We wanted to make it easier for families to access our worldclass care close to home, provide much-needed space to accommodate the growing number of patients who would need CHOP’s care in the future, and create a space — and build a team — that was very much a part of the King of Prussia community,” he said.
Dr. Allison Ballantine, MD, Med, is the Associate Chief Medical Officer for the Middleman Pavilion. She has served in a number of leadership roles and is a hospitalist — which means she takes care of patients in the hospital. Ballantine has been part of the planning for the new facility since the beginning. She referred to the project as “her baby.”
“It’s exciting to be able to bring CHOP level care out of the city to reach patients and families to the west,” she said.
Ballantine said she wants parents across the region to know that CHOP is here for them.
“We want to partner with you in sickness and in health. We are here to support this amazing community. We’re here should your child become ill. And we’re here when they’re doing well, so you know they are doing well,” she said.
Madeline Bell, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said since its founding in 1855, a key component of CHOP’s mission has been ensuring its patients have access to high-quality, convenient care.
“And now, with the opening of our second inpatient hospital, the Middleman Family Pavilion, we aim to provide families in the region with a full range of bestin-class pediatric services, in a comfortable and convenient setting, close to home,” she said in a statement.
For many families, their first visit to the new hospital may be their first encounter with acute care.
“A lot of the design of the hospital was specific to focusing on creating a welcoming, open and airy environment,” Ballantine added.
When patients and their families enter the front doors, they enter the greeting zone for the hospital and specialty care that is filled with light and bright colors.
“There is some playfulness to it. We’re trying to offer patients and families the most reassuring care we can,” Ballantine said. There are seating areas on each floor, to give families a place to take a break from the bedside.
The private rooms, she said, feature a window nook, a couch that converts to a bed, as well as a table and chairs.
Ballantine said the interrelationship between the two CHOP hospitals is important. Some specialized treatments, like cardiothoracic and neurosurgery will continue to be provided at CHOP’s downtown facility and patients would be transitioned there, with transportation provided.
Multiple care teams at the Middleman Pavilion will also work at CHOP’s Philadelphia Campus, with many doctors and nurses splitting their time between both campuses.
Asked whether there is technology or services CHOP will provide at the new hospital that other hospitals don’t provide, Ballantine referenced as one example the pediatric ER, which is staffed by pediatric medicine trained physicians.
“We have dedicated personnel and technology, and all of it is dedicated to pediatrics,” she added.
She stressed that there are differences in treating pediatric patients compared with adults and requires a team that can talk to children and understand them, distract them if necessary and that understands what the parents are experiencing as well.
When construction of the hospital was announced in June 2018, CHOP planned for a fall 2021 opening — a timeframe the hospital came close to meeting — despite the pandemic.
“We faced many of the same labor and supply challenges that have affected everything,” Ballantine said, adding that construction was stopped briefly at the start of the pandemic. “We leapt back into action as quickly as we could. We pushed through a time when there were a ton of challenges.”
More than 400 staff will work at the new hospital in clinical and nonclinical roles. Those interested in working for the hospital can view openings at https://careers.chop.edu/go/King-of-Prussia-Hospital/8667600/
According to a press release, The Middleman Family Pavilion was built with families in mind, providing convenient access to CHOP’s unparalleled care and resources for even more children across our expanded region in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.