Hartford Business Journal

Business Journal. A centerpiece of the expansion is the new fetal care center. Only a handful exist throughout the U.S., and having one in Hartford will be a boon for the region, Shmerling said. It will allow for early intervention of birth defects, including ailments that impact a newborn's heart, nervous system, ear, face or neck. "This will save lives," Shmerling said. "We believe a program like this that is so comprehensive will attract patients from all over the country and will make Connecticut a destination center for these types of illnesses." Safe to proceed Connecticut Children's earlier this month outlined its expansion plans in a Certificate of Need (CON) application filed with the Office of Health Strategy, which must ultimately approve the project. That could take upwards of six months, according to Ryan Calhoun, CCMC's vice president of strategy and business development. The tower expansion will also go before Hartford's Planning & Zoning Commission later in the fall, Calhoun said. The hope is construction could begin by April 2023, and the tower completed by the end of 2025. Shmerling is not new to major expansions. He previously oversaw hospital construction at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital and the Children's Hospital of Colorado. In 2017, Shmerling also led the relocation of about 400 Connecticut Children's non-clinical employees to the Candy Cane building in downtown Hartford, a move that freed up clinical space at the hospital's main campus. However, space constraints remain an issue and have pressed the need for a new patient tower, Shmerling said. 14 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | March 28, 2022 Jim Shmerling is the president and CEO of Connecticut Children's Medical Center. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER Destination Center Ambitious $280M expansion plan to reshape CT Children's Hartford campus By Robert Storace rstorace@hartfordbusiness.com C onnecticut Children's Medical Center is undertaking the largest-ever expansion of its Hartford campus, as it prepares to grow existing services and launch new ones, including an effort to become a national center for fetal care. CCMC — which began operating in 1996 as the successor to Newington Children's Hospital — is planning a $280-million expansion anchored by a new 190,000-square-foot, eight- story patient tower on its Washington Street campus. The tower will connect to CCMC's main Hartford building and feature an array of services, including 50 private neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beds, expanded behavioral health and cancer treatment services, and a new comprehensive fetal care center, hospital officials confirmed to the Hartford Business Journal. The ambitious project will create upwards of 500 new jobs — including temporary construction positions as well as the hiring of about 25 Ryan Calhoun Here's what will be inside CT Children's new patient tower It will include the following specialties and departments: • 50-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) on two floors • Advanced cellular gene therapy • Pharmacy • Fetal care center • Kitchen and dining • Gift shop/lobby • Support space • Materials management/loading dock/equipment depot • GI endoscopy suite and processing • Biomed • Central sterile processing new physicians and more than 130 nurses. It is being driven by increased demand for surgical and other children's care and a lack of available space within the hospital's main campus building, CCMC officials said. It also entails service expansion in Fairfield County. Despite being known as a Hartford-based hospital, Connecticut Children's, over the years, has grown its footprint across the state and into Massachusetts and New York, with more than 40 different care center locations. Its biggest competition in Connecticut is Yale New Haven Children's Hospital. "This is part of our overall strategy, as we are experiencing significant growth throughout Connecticut, as well as throughout the region," said Connecticut Children's President and CEO Jim Shmerling in an exclusive interview with the Hartford

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