by Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

If you've been reading this blog for some time, you realize that we discuss a great deal of different topics.  One of the recurring topics that comes up is parenting.  Let's face it, children do not come with instruction manuals and any help people can get is great.

It is for that reason that I want to give a shout out to our sister blog, here on Le Bonheur Children's website.  If you haven't read it already, check out the Practical Parenting Blog.  It is filled with lots of great information and posts.  Practical Parenting is covering everything from safety to illness to parenting and everything in-between.  I promise that it will be well worth the read.

by Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

As our week long celebration of the Grand Opening of Le Bonheur Children's begins to wind down, I thought I would share one more surprise with you.  One Tuesday, we had several celebrities meet all in one area.  Roscoe Orman and Sonia Manzano, who play Gordon and Maria on Sesame Street, were our emcees during the grand opening parade.  Well, Memphis' own, Deidra Shores, winner of the Today Show's Kid Reporter Contest, sat down to interview Roscoe and Sonia in Studio 8.

by Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

We've had a lot of great experiences during the Grand Opening celebration of the new Le Bonheur Chidlren's.  I thought I would share one of my favorites, walking in the parade with the Teen Advisory Council.  So, in order to give the full effect, here is a point of view perspective of the Teen Council:

By Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

By now, I’m sure that most of you have realized that Le Bonheur Children’s is opening a new hospital.  As a matter of fact, today, June 15, 2010, is the hospital’s 58^th birthday and the day of the grand opening of the new building.  The level of excitement around here is through the roof, with good reason.

Now, it’s easy to simply focus on today (being the grand opening and all).  However, yesterday was a big day in the hospital’s celebration.  Since, there is so much to talk about, I thought I would let you know a little about all of the happenings.

Yesterday was a tremendously special day for many of the Le Bonheur associates.  The celebration began with the consecration of the new building.  During the ceremony, the new hospital received blessings from numerous religious leaders of many different faith traditions.  Since today’s grand opening is a community celebration, the consecration was a nice opportunity for the Le Bonheur associates to celebrate the new hospital.

After that, the building was open to our associate for tours.  For many of the associates, this was the first chance they have gotten to see the interior of the new building.  It was also the first peek at all of the artwork in the new building.  The best way I can describe the atmosphere was like the realization of a promise.

Now, the excitement didn’t stop there.  In fact, there was a live television special on WREG last night.  If you missed it, there were some great stories shared and some wonderful interviews.  Some of the guest interviews included Patti Reed (Family Partner Council), Catie Fisher (Teen Advisory Council), and Madeline Flack (patient) and, her father, Tim Flack (Family Partners Council).

Finally, there was the ever-important parade practice.  That’s right, we did in practice the parade.  Let’s face it, how often does a children’s hospital get to do a parade?  So, we didn’t want to get it just ‘right’; we wanted to get it perfect.  So, we had various floats, banner groups, performers, and many others come together and run through the parade.

Overall, it was a great day of celebration.  The most exciting part is that we get to share it with everyone today.  By the way, if you can’t make it for the grand opening, you can always watch it live on WMC-TV.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that yesterday was ridiculously hot and humid?

by Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

As hard as it is for me to believe, there is only one week until the grand opening of the new Le Bonheur Children’s.  That’s right, June 15, 2010 is just around the corner, and what an exciting time.  Not only will it be the day of the grand opening, but it’s also Le Bonheur Children’s 58 birthday.  So, we have two reasons to celebrate.

It’s been a lot of work to get to this point, but it has all been worth it.  The new hospital is simply amazing, and will have a big reach in helping children and their families.  Needless to say, there is a great deal of excitement and happenings surrounding the big day.  I thought I would highlight three big events that are part of the celebration.

• WREG (Channel 3) Television Special about Le Bonheur:  This television special will broadcast on Monday, June 14 at 6:30 p.m.  It will beaming live from the new Emergency Department.  The focus will be on the history and impact of Le Bonheur, both currently and in the new facility.  I will let this detail slip, there will be an interview with one of the Teen Advisory Council members.
• THE Parade/Grand Opening:  June 15 is the big day, and there will be a lot of excitement.  The fun kicks off at 10:00 a.m. with a parade featuring floats, groups, and much more.  You can join the fun first hand at Le Bonheur, as the parade comes down Dunlap Street.  However, if you can make it, have no fear.  Set your DVR to record because WMCTV (Channel 5) will be broadcasting the events live.  Oh, did I mention that Gordon and Maria from Sesame Street emcee the parade?  Well, they are.

The parade ends and immediately moves into the official Grand Opening.  I can’t talk about the complete specifics (hey, we have to have some secrets), but I will say that it will be an incredible events.

Be on the look out because there will be some upcoming times to tour the new building.  As soon as I know when, I’ll pass along the times.  Trust me, you want to get the chance to see this place.  Between the design, color scheme, art, amenities, and overall layout, it’s going to be like no other children’s hospital (or hospital for that matter) you’ve ever seen.

And if you’re there are the grand opening, look me up, I’d love to say hey.

by Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

Since we are incredibly close to the opening of the new hospital and Crystal’s post on Tuesday, I thought I would share a sneak preview of the Emergency Department (ED) in the new hospital.  This is an area that might be the only part of the hospital a family ever interacts.  It seems important to share a little bit about all of the changes.

Often, people will call it an emergency room, but let me assure you that there are way more than one room.  As a matter of fact, the new ED will have 60 exam rooms, which is an increase form the 39 in the current facility.  Even more exciting is that the new space will be approximately 50 percent larger than the current space.  There are some rooms dedicated to specific treatments, including 9 respiratory rooms, 3 orthopedics rooms, and 4 trauma beds.  Additionally, there will be 5 triage rooms, which will help to treat patients in a more efficient manner.

The ED see approximately 70,000 children each year, and treats more than 13,000 major and minor traumas. Since there is such a high need, there will always be 5 attending physicians, 1-2 fellows, and 5-6 residents.  This level of physician staffing will be able to provide the high level of care and expertise patients and families expect when coming to Le Bonheur Children’s.

If you have been watching the construction of the new hospital, you may have noticed that the helicopter-landing pad is located at the top of the building.  If a patient is transported via helicopter, there is a dedicated elevator.  What’s more impressive is that it can deliver a patient to the ED in one minute!  The elevator will only access the Intensive Care Unit, the Surgery Suites, and the ED.

In previous posts, I have mention that artwork will play a big roll in the new hospital.  The ED is the home for the some of the winning pieces from a recent art contest Le Bonheur held for children in the Mid-South.  The contest received over 3,000 submissions and the art committee selected 200 pieces.  The artwork will be featured along a long hallway that runs between the ED and radiology department, and will have an aquatic theme.

All of these different elements come together to make the new Emergency Department, and we couldn’t be more excited.  No one comes to an ED thinking that it will be a fun experience.  Le Bonheur Children’s has developed a plan of care, and the space to support it, to make the most out of the situation. 

Hopefully, you will never have to bring a patient to the ED.  However, if you do, know that we’re here for you.

by Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

I’ve talk about the dedication that Le Bonheur Children’s has to children’s health and the wellbeing of children and their families.  What I don’t talk about often is the hospital’s dedication to the community and the world.  So, today, I thought I would start by telling you about how the new Le Bonheur Children’s will be green and will apply for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

LEED is an internationally recognized certification program that focuses on “the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.” It was established in 2000 by the U.S. Green Building Council, and focuses on five major categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.  All factors are evaluated and then a score is given.  Le Bonheur Children’s is hoping to have the results in 2011.  To put this in perspective, nationally, less than 3 percent of hospitals (not just children’s hospitals) are LEED certified.

It has been exciting to watch the new hospital building being built at Poplar and Dunlap.  If you are like me, you’ve been following the progress since the previous structure on the site was being torn down.  What you may not realize is all of the green initiatives you were witnessing.  For instance, at least 50 percent of the demolition waste was recycled.  Additionally, the new building is built with recycled steel and concrete.

The green initiatives don’t stop there.  The hospital operates 24-hours a day, seven-days a week, and uses a great deal of energy.  The new Le Bonheur Children’s is designed with plumbing fixtures that will reduce water consumption by over 20 percent.  In the design of the new building, the building will capture the maximum possible natural light.  This is additionally beneficial for the healing process, as research in design has seen on the impact of healing.

There have also been several steps to reduce CO2. For instance, a preference was given to construction materials with recycled content and materials from within 500 miles.  Additionally, a recycling program has been put in place for staff and visitors.

One final note is the modular energy plant that has been installed onsite.  The plant, which was built by Johnson Controls, is the largest of its kind in the country.  Everything from a fire pump to chillers to boilers to emergency power is included in the modular energy plant.  What’s more amazing is that the new plant is approximately 14 percent more efficient.

It’s easy to see that Le Bonheur has made being green a big part of the hospitals identity.  There are still more efforts that the hospital is taking to be sustainable.  Check back next week, and I’ll tell you more about it.

by Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

In a follow up from yesterday’s post, I have completed my Le Bonheur Children’s Ambassador Training.  It was a little touch and go as to whether I would make the cut, but I did.  (Okay, there were no cuts, I just thought it would be more dramatic.)  There was even a graduation ceremony, with a lot of pomp for the circumstance.

When I wrote yesterday’s post, I referred to the ambassador role as a tour guide.  That is, in part, true, but I learned quickly that it is more than that.  The ambassador is an important role for telling the story of Le Bonheur Children’s.  We educate on the hospital’s vision for the future, and Le Bonheur Children’s role in the community, nation, and world.  We are here to share the amazing and touching stories of the hospital, both historically and during the building process.

If you don’t know this already, let me be the first to tell you that there is no shortage of those stories.  Also, to put in perspective the size of the hospital, we were trained to provide a two-hour tour, and we are not even covering half of the hospital!

As I promised, here are a few interesting facts about the new Le Bonheur Children’s:

• The new hospital is 610,000 square-feet in size.
• The complete Le Bonheur campus is will be 50 percent larger and will cover more than one million square-feet.
• In the same way the current hospital is designed, all patient rooms are private, and now will accommodate comfortable sleeping space for two parents.
• Playrooms and space for families to gather on every inpatient floor.
• The new hospital includes a movie theater.
• Lactation rooms for moms are available on each floor.
• The Emergency Department will more than double in size, with 64 patient treatment rooms in the new area.
• Almost half of the beds in the new Le Bonheur Children’s are for critical care patients – these beds are in the dedicated pediatric intensive care, cardiovascular intensive care and neonatal intensive care units.

Over the next few weeks, I will share more specifics about the new Le Bonheur Children’s and the exciting aspects of it.  Also, what kind of a blogger would I be if I didn’t take a few pictures?

by Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

One thing that I have prided myself in is knowledge about Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.  Besides the facts that I work here and I’m a dork, it is information that I use on a fairly regular basis.  Why do I use this knowledge (other than winning at obscure trivia)?  Tours.

It is surprising the number of tours that I have given during my time at Le Bonheur Children’s.  It has led me to collect nuggets of information about most areas of the hospital.  Additionally, with the exception of a few square feet here and there, I have been everywhere in this building, including the roof.  Needless to say, I’ve developed a fantastic tour, and can spend all day telling you about Le Bonheur Children’s.

Here’s the funny thing about moving into a new building: there are no “tour guides” for it.  Sure, we’ve done construction tours, but most people will be interested in the finished product.  Have no fear because we have a plan: ambassador training.

Ambassador training is a process put in place to train approximately 100 ambassadors (translation: tour guides).  What is more amazing is that ever a tour guide… err… ambassador will have the exact same knowledge and experience.  This means that regardless of who leads the tour, everyone will hear the same information.  Trust me, this is no small feat.

Additionally, the ambassadors will be the group giving tours to the community, as we get closer to the grand opening and move in date.  We know that people are interested in getting a look at the new hospital, and we want to accommodate with tours.  When I have more information on the specific dates of public tours, I’ll be sure to post it.

Today I will be in my ambassador training, and I’ll see if there are any interesting tidbits that I can share.  So, I’ll take lots of notes and pictures and report back tomorrow.  Consider me your inside source from Le Bonheur Children’s Ambassador Corps.

Don’t worry that I’m blogging during it, I do have my tricks…

by Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

I suppose that if you are reading this, the cat is out of the bag.  That's right, there is a new logo and a new name for Le Bonheur Children's.  As our press release stated, "Le Bonheur’s new logo features a simple red and white stitched heart which ties back to the hospital’s founders, the Le Bonheur Club sewing circle. Red and blue were selected for the logo because of their strong traditional, yet kid-friendly feel. The Methodist Healthcare Family tag line shows the connection to the parent company."

The new logo is the one at the top of this page, and you might have noticed that the name has changed slightly.  We are now called Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, which is a subtle, but important, change.  Here at the hospital, we're pretty excited about it. Again, from the press release, “Parents and employees told us that the heart in our old logo was an important element because it represents the love and care we provide to children. While the logo reflects change, it shows that Le Bonheur’s heart remains the same,” said Jennilyn Utkov, director of Marketing and Communications.

You might have also noticed that there look to the blog, which in my humble opinion is awesome.

However, that's not the end of all of the excitement.  We've got a fancy new ad campaign to go along with all of the excitement with the logo and the new hospital.  I thought that you might like to see them: