by Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

The day has finally arrived and Le Bonheur Children’s begun the patient move.  We can even mark do to the minute when the move started. So, for those of you that are keeping score, on Friday, December 03, 2010 at 5:00 a.m. the move began.

The major change was the Emergency Department.  The (now) old ED closed at 4:59 a.m., and the new one opened up at 5:00 a.m.  Now, I’m probably being a little too broad in saying the old ED closed.  In fact, it continued to run until all the patients were discharged or admitted to the hospital.  So for a while, we were running two EDs.  (Which is so confusing that even my AutoCorrect keeps trying to keep me from writing it.)

There has been a real excitement in opening the new emergency department.  When the first ambulance arrived, Memphis Fire EMT Mark Sykes and Paramedic Derrick Delancy brought four-month-old Justin Fisk who had RSV. Justin and mother Kimerie Tate were greeted with balloons and cheers.  Obviously, it’s a rare occasion to cheer when someone comes to the ED.

In a bittersweet situation, the first people to walk through the lobby of the ED were Tiffany Casey and her five-year-old son Shane Casey who was coughing, vomiting and shaking. Tiffany serves on the Family Partners Council, and she helped design the new hospital for patients and families. 

It is a truly amazing feat that was done this morning.  The Le Bonheur Children’s team pulled together to seamlessly transition from one emergency department to another one.  If you’ve never had to transition into a new ED before (because, who hasn’t had to do that), trust me when I say that it’s a lot of work and planning. I can also attest for the excitement in the Emergency Department, as I heard various cheers and celebrations as a lifetime’s worth of firsts were happening.

In all of my years at Le Bonheur, this is quit possibly one of my proudest moments.  Between the infectious excitement of the staff, the wonderful new facilities, and the exceptional care provided, there is magic in the air. And as a parent, I feel safer knowing that Le Bonheur is here to serve not just my children, but all of the children.

So, if everything is this exciting now, I can only imagine what the next two days will be like!