Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center | |
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| Le Bonheur main entrance | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Place | 50 N. Dunlap Memphis, Tennessee, (US) |
| Organization | |
| Care System | Private & Charity |
| Hospital Type | Pediatric |
| Affiliated University | University of Tennessee |
| Services | |
| Emergency Dept. | Yes |
| Beds | 225 |
| History | |
| Founded | June 15, 1952 |
| Links | |
| Website | Homepage |
| See also | Hospitals in the United States |
Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center is a 225-bed children's hospital Located in Memphis, Tennessee. It has more than 500 medical staff representing 45 pediatric specialties. Its pediatric residency program is affiliated with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. The children's hospital primarily serves children from 95 counties and six states including Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas but also serves patients from all over the world due to its nationally recognized brain tumor program. It is the home of the Children's Foundation Research Center. It functions as the region's primary level 1 pediatric trauma center, the next closest being either Little Rock children's Hospital in Little Rock, or Vanderbilt Pediatric Medical Center in Nashville.
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[edit] History
Le Bonheur was founded in 1952 by the Le Bonheur Club, originally a women's sewing circle, and was originally an orphanage dedicated to caring for poor children. The Le Bonheur Club members raised all of the money for the initial investment for the hospital. When the doors opened on June 15, 1952, the Le Bonheur Club President Mrs. Howard Pritchard stated, "The doors of Le Bonheur will never be found closed and will forever hereafter be open to those who come in need, seeking its help."
Since 1952, the medical center has gone through two major expansion projects and is currently raising $100 million to build "the New Le Bonheur," to be located on the adjacent block due north of the present site.
In 1995, LeBonheur became a part of the Methodist Healthcare group. It is supported by the Memphis, Mississippi and Arkansas conferences of The United Methodist Church.
In 2007, Meri Armour, MSN, MBA was named president/chief executive officer.
[edit] Pedi-Flight Team
Lebonheur maintains a fleet of two ambulances (a third is planned for 2009) equipped for critical care transport and staffed by an EMT-IV or Paramedic, an RN (with Critical Care or ER training), and an RT. It also contracts out to Hospital Wing in Memphis for three helicopter transports, providing their own EMT or Paramedic and RN for the flight transports, and maintains a fixed wing option for long range and international transports. Ground ambulances usually transport from within a 12-hour radius by ground or from Methodist satellite facilities and affiliates, and provides critical care and MICU transport options for critically ill or injured patients from newborn to age 18. Non-emergency or basic-level transports are usually handled by a contracted ambulance service (currently Rural/Metro Midsouth) to allow the PediFlight team to remain available. Currently, Pedi-Flight is dispatched from its own internal dispatch center, located adjacent to the Emergency Department. Future plans include having Pedi-Flite dispatch take care of all medcom traffic to and from LeBonheur, as well as the procurement of its own helicopter.
[edit] Future Development
Le Bonheur is planning a $235 million US Dollar expansion onto the current campus. This expansion will put the facility at 1 million square feet. The expansion will involve the construction of a 12 story tower and a 330 space parking garage. The new tower will accommodate 230 beds and 14 room surgical suite. After the construction of the new tower is complete, a portion of the old facility will be torn down to build a new 490 space parking garage, new entrance, and green space that can be utilized for later expansions. This expansion will also involve enlarging the emergency department with the plans to handle patient volumes through the year 2014. Construction was scheduled to begin in the summer of 2007 and is expected to be finished in 2010.[1]
On February 14, 2008, ground was broken on the new expansion by Le Bonheur executives. The site for the expansion will be the site of the old Memphis Mental Health Institute, which was demolished to make way.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Downtown Developer, September 2005. Downtown Developer. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
