Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center broke ground at a Feb. 14 ceremony, celebrating the beginning of construction for the new children's hospital. The 610,000 square foot, 12-story hospital is the largest investment by a non- profit organization in a free-standing facility in Shelby County. The $327-million hospital has been designed around needs of children and their families. When it opens in 2010, the new Le Bonheur will double its current space for patient care, research and teaching.

"The new Le Bonheur Children's is truly an investment in our community's future. Every great city needs a great children's hospital. This new hospital will provide our experienced caregivers with the facility and resources that will allow us to help heal hundreds of thousands of children from across the region and country," said Le Bonheur President Meri Armour.

During the groundbreaking event, Le Bonheur patients joined Armour in breaking ground for the new hospital. Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health, Susan R. Cooper, M.S.N., R.N., Memphis Mayor W.W. Herenton and Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton all spoke about the importance of quality healthcare being available to all children. Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare CEO Gary Shorb and Chief Operating Officer Peggy Troy expressed thanks to the donors and supporters who made the project a reality. To date more than $82.5 million has been raised toward the $100 million fundraising goal.

Le Bonheur current and former patients led the groundbreaking using heart-shaped shovels. The celebration included Le Bonheur employees dressed in red forming the shape of a red heart string around the stage and seating area. Kallen Esperian, world-renowned soprano, made a special appearance. Choirs from Manor Lake Elementary School, Memphis University School, St. Louis Elementary School and University of Memphis Campus School performed several songs.

The new hospital will include 225 beds and have dedicated units for pediatric intensive care, cardiovascular intensive care and neonatal intensive care. All patient rooms are private and designed to accommodate two parents. The facility will feature many play areas, a mini-movie theatre and a large parent resource center with access to learning materials, the Internet and patient educators.

All diagnostic and treatment services will be located in the new building, including a 14-room surgical suite, a two-room cardiac catheterization laboratory, an interventional radiology suite and an endoscopy suite. The Emergency Department will be enlarged to handle expected patient volumes beyond 2014.  Built to treat 35,000 patients a year, and the Emergency Department currently treats more than 70,000.

Construction on the new hospital will begin immediately and is expected to last 30 months. Le Bonheur has partnered with several outstanding architecture and construction firms including FKP Architects, Self Tucker Architects, Inc. and Skanska USA to build the new Le Bonheur.

Houston-based FKP Architects is the architect of record for the Le Bonheur Children's expansion.  In the past 10 years, FKP Architects has become a leader in the design of health care environments for children.  FKP is the ongoing architect of choice for Texas Children's Hospital of Houston, Cook Children's Medical Center of Fort Worth, Texas, Children's Medical Center of Dallas and Columbus Children's Hospital of Columbus, Ohio. 

FKP Architects has partnered with Memphis firm Self Tucker Architects Inc. (STA).  Self Tucker Architects Inc. is an architecture, planning and interior design firm located in Memphis. STA was founded on principles of design, service and communication. The culture of STA is focused on understanding the needs of their clients and providing services that respond to those needs. STA has developed a significant Mid-South - focused practice in commercial, educational, healthcare, religious, civic, transportation and residential architecture.

Skanska USA is building the new Le Bonheur Children's. Skanska USA Building Inc. is a leading national and local provider of construction, pre-construction consulting, general contracting and design-build services to a broad range of U.S. industries including health care, education, high-tech, aviation, transportation, sports and entertainment. Skanska has been ranked as the No. 1 health care builder in 2007 by Modern Healthcare. The company, part of the Skanska AB global group of companies, is headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., and has approximately 3,800 employees.

Skanska is one of the world's leading construction groups with expertise in construction, development of commercial and residential projects and public-private partnerships. The Group currently has 56,000 employees in selected home markets in Europe, in the U.S. and Latin America.  Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, Skanska's sales in 2006 totaled $17 billion.

For more information about the new Le Bonheur Children's or to see a Web cam of the construction project, visit lebonheur.org/growingup.