With construction in full swing at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, the hospital is offering helpful tips for staff on which entrances to use and how to get around the facility during the lobby closure.
The main Children’s Hospital front entrance and portions of the lobby were closed off starting Dec. 1, 2017, for a 12-14 month period. The closure allows crews to install two additional hospital elevators as well as shift the position of the grand staircase in the lobby in preparation for the four-floor expansion.
There are various new access points and entrances, highlighted by wayfinding signage, throughout the hospital to help staff, patients/families and visitors reach their destinations. Staff have a few additional entrances as well, accessible via badge swipe.
- To get to the second floor of Children’s Hospital, also known as Main Street, or the food court, use the second-floor sky bridge from South Garage or TVC Plaza. Stairwell No. 5 (entryway is at the corner of Children’s Way and Medical Center Drive) is also available to staff with badge access.
- Traveling from street level to all Children’s Hospital floors (other than Radiology) — staff can use stairwell No. 5.
- For travel to the third through fifth floors of the hospital and DOT, staff can use their badge to access stairwell No. 6 in the main drive off Children’s Way.
- For access to the building after hours, staff can use any of the entrances with a badge swipe, including the new green door in the garden.
Patients, visitors and staff who need to access clinics in the Doctors’ Office Tower (DOT) from the hospital’s first floor can also use a new temporary entrance (indicated as the yellow door on the map). The yellow door is also the entrance for patient admitting and patient records. Access to DOT will also still be available from the Children’s Hospital second-floor entrance via the sky bridge off the South garage.
A second temporary first-floor entrance (indicated as the green door on the map) inside the Children’s Hospital garden by the koi fish pond will allow access to radiology, diagnostic imaging and surgery. Guest drop-offs and access to the Rascal Flatts’ Surgery Center on the third floor can is through the green entrance in the garden.
Visitors who need to get to second floor of the hospital or to the Children’s Hospital food court can gain access via the second floor sky bridge in the South Garage during regular operating hours (5 a.m. – 9 p.m.). After-hours hospital visitor access will continue to be gained through the Emergency Department (ED) entrance (indicated as the red door on the map), with access to the second floor via the DOT elevators.
For more information on closures and other impacts throughout construction, please continue to look for updates in MyVUMC.
