Staff move a young patient across the 400-foot-long connector between the old and new Children's Hospital. Faculty, staff, and many volunteers helped move 112 patients and equipment to the new building all day Sunday. See pages 4 and 5 for more photos from the historic move. Photo by Dana Johnson
On the move
Lillie Smith, 3, is safe in the arms of her mother, Kim, in their comfy new room at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Photo by Dana Johnson
The first in-patient moved from the sixth floor of Vanderbilt University Hospital, Gary Ellis, arrives on the eighth floor of Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, accompanied by Dr. Harry Jacobson, vice chancellor for Health Affairs, Jim Shmerling, Vanderbilt Children's Hospital CEO and hospital namesake Monroe Carell Jr. Photo by Neil Brake
First surgical patient Olivia Follis, 4, chats with chief pediatric anesthesiologist Dr. Jay Deshpande before being taken into surgery as her parents look on.
Sunday after the move, for the first time in 24 years, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in VUH stands empty and quiet.
It began 30 minutes before schedule, at 7 a.m. Sunday when 1-year old Dedrick Woodard Jr. and his mother were wheeled out of the pediatric emergency department attached to the Vanderbilt Clinic. Accompanied by four ED staff members, Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital’s Medical Director Dr. Arnold Strauss and CEO Jim Shmerling, the group took an elevator up to a fourth floor connector, and over to the new Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
By 7:30 a.m., the original start time for the move of the ED, there were six patients, and things were running smoothly. Dedrick and his mother rested comfortably, as staff was waiting patiently for the patients and families to fill the rooms.
By 10:30 a.m., the planned start time to move all in-patients, the first four patients were lined up ready to go. Media, family, volunteers and staff all looked like they were leaning into the wind, ready for the gates to open so they could charge across the connector.
There was no “charge,” it was all very controlled, but the energy was high all the way. Staff members burst into applause as first patient, Gary Ellis, was wheeled onto the eighth floor by Dr. Harry Jacobson, vice chancellor for Health Affairs, Children’s Hospital CEO Jim Shmerling and hospital namesake Monroe Carell Jr.
The whole day was like that. High pitched energy building to a head before wave after wave of patients made their moves, triumphant crossings over the connector on the fourth floor, ecstatic arrivals, a photo with the Children’s Hospital mascot, Champ, and finally settling into beautiful new rooms on brand new floors.
At 4:30 p.m., an hour and a half before the earliest expected time of completion, it was all over. While 140 patients had been prepared for the move, several went home just before or during the move. By final count, 112 actually crossed over the connector between VUH and VCH on this historic day.