UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

The former location of UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in Oakland

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh was founded by a charter on March 18, 1887 and the first patients were admitted on June 4, 1890. The original hospital was housed in a donated mansion refurbished for medical use. The facility was quickly outgrown and two additions were added within ten years. After a small fire at the mansion, fundraising began for a much larger facility which was begun in 1926 at the DeSoto Street location in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh.[12]

The oldest of these Children's Hospital buildings, dating to the 1930s, included an eight-story building, later called the DeSoto Wing, that included a cafe, gift shop and chapel. North and south additions to the original building were added in the 1950s followed by a ten-story tower, later referred to as the Main Tower, in 1986. The Main Tower also had a rooftop heliport and was the location of the emergency department and included rare elevators made by the Haughton Elevator Company. The Main Tower also included a 2-story subterranean parking garage with depictions on its walls of colorful stick figure children holding hands. This tower was connected to the older buildings and also included a connection to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital that was accessed through the 2nd and 4th floor.

The old Children's Hospital location was closed on May 2, 2009 when the hospital moved to the Lawrenceville location.

On December 18, 2009, UPMC announced plans to demolish the Former Children's hospital, which includes the building which sits on the corner of Fifth Avenue and DeSoto Street. However the blue banded main tower which was constructed in 1986 will remain as part of UPMC Presbyterian.

The demolition was taken in July 2010, and though it was scheduled to be finished October that year, the removal of asbestos and other factors delayed the progress until the demolition was complete in May, 2011. Later that month it is landscaped as park, although UPMC has plans to build a heart and transplant hospital on its footprint.

In October 2009 the movie "The Next Three Days" had few scenes shot in the old campus and portrayed as "University Hospital" Recognizable shots include underground parking garage, main lobby/entrance and elevator banks.[13]

On April 5, 2001 CHP and UPMC announce a merger. As a part of the agreement, UPMC would provide CHP with $250 million in research support over 10 years, including funds for new faculty and facilities and also contribute $250 million toward a new hospital to replace Children's aging Oakland facilities.[14] A few months later insurance company Highmark filed suit to block Children's planned merger with UPMC, claiming that UPMC could use the region's only pediatric hospital as part of a plan to build its own insurance business by blocking access to CHP for patients with other coverage.[15] By Oct. 19, 2001 Highmark dropped the lawsuit against CHP when they were able to reach an agreement with UPMC. The merger was complete by October 31, 2001.[16]

Ideas were floating around as early as 2000 when CHP conducted a study to determine the cost of renovating the original hospital on Fifth Avenue and DeSoto Street in Oakland. Throughout the years the additions created an environment that was confusing to navigate. Many different sets of elevators taking people to different places confused families. They determined it would cost about $185 million to upgrade electrical systems and rooms, but wouldn't address problems with the outdated hospital design itself.[17]

Hospital administration instead refocused on building a brand new hospital or finding another building onto which a new children's hospital could be attached. A few sites were considered including a lot next to UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, which was ultimately not chosen due to the lack of expansion potential. A lot at LTV Steel site along the Monongahela River was also considered and turned down due to the potential cost of environmental cleanup that option entailed. Also, the area behind UPMC Montefiore was inquired upon but faced the same expansion problems as the Magee-Womens proposal.[18]

As plans were being drawn up, leaders from the St. Francis Medical Center in Lawrenceville announced that they would be closing due to long term financial struggles. After financial donations from Highmark, UPMC officials decided to purchase the St. Francis Medical Center, providing large amounts of land and expansion potential.[19]

After acquiring the land, UPMC officials drew up plans for the site that included the demolition of a few buildings, but kept about 4 buildings from the old hospital, choosing to renovate them instead. The decision reduced overall construction costs for the project as not as many buildings were required to be constructed.[20] Buildings still existing from St. Francis days include the Plaza Building, Faculty Building, Administrative Office Building, and the back half of the main hospital.[21]

Early demolition of buildings not required started soon after the deal, and construction and renovations for CHP started in 2006 and completed in 2009.[22]

When the hospital first opened, residents in Lawrenceville complained about the loud noises that the rooftop ventilation fans made and CHP officials were quick to hire acoustic engineers, spending around $250.000 to find a solution to the noise issues.[23][24]

The 1,500,000-square-foot (140,000 m²) hospital has 315 beds, with a 45-bed emergency department, a 36-bed pediatric intensive care unit, and a 12-bed cardiac intensive care unit.[25] A ten-story research center is also on the campus, with seven out of the ten floors dedicated for pediatric medical research. The complex is environmentally friendly[26] and "quiet".[27] The Hospital also includes a Weight Management and Wellness Center to offer help to obese children. The Center assists children in the area with maintaining and achieving a healthy weight, while also treating weight related health issues.[28]

The architect is Louis D. Astorino. The new hospital was named the 7th most beautiful hospital in the US by Soliant Health[29] in 2010 and the 10th most beautiful hospital in the world by HealthExecNews in 2012.[30][31]

Additionally, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh is connected to the Ronald McDonald House via a third floor walkway. Families are now just an elevator ride away from their children.[32]

• 46-bed Pediatric Emergency Department
• 36-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
• 33-bed Cardiac Intensive Care Unit
• 55-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
• 8-bed Rehabilitation Unit
• 181 beds for General Pediatrics

In addition to the patient care units the hospital also has 14 operating rooms and 4 procedure rooms.[33]

Exterior view of the Children's Hospital.

Children's Hospital's research heritage began in the earliest years of pediatric medicine and is filled with significant research achievements. Today, Children's research is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. They are one of the fastest growing pediatric research programs in the United States and rank seventh in National Institutes of Health grant funding.

The John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center serves as the hub of pediatric research in Pittsburgh. In 2008, the research center transferred to a new 300,000-square-foot (28,000 m²) state-of-the-art facility with nearly triple the space for research activities. The space accommodates 70 principal investigators and supports biomedical research, including genomics, cellular imaging, signal transduction, structural biology, immunology and neuroscience, among other fields.

The research center also houses a conference center and is home to the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research.[34]

Children's Hospital regularly conducts clinical trials to solve many of today's pediatric health challenges, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and liver and intestine transplantation.[35]

In 2016, it was ranked as the 7th best children's hospital in America by U.S. News and World Report and was ranked #10 in neonatology, #22 in cancer, #10 in cardiology, #3 in diabetes, #2 in gastroenterology and GI surgery, and #15 in nephrology, #10 in neurology, #44 in orthopedics, #6 in pulmonology, and # 16 in urology.[37]

As of 2020, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh has placed nationally in all 10 ranked pediatric specialties on U.S. News and World Report and placed 8th overall on the honor roll.

In 2021 the hospital was ranked as the #9 best children's hospital in the United States by U.S. News and World Report on the publications' honor roll list.[38]