Imagine a 20,000-square-foot space designed with kids in mind, from nausea-reducing paint colors and lights to a play area with space to enjoy art, games, and music, and interactive features like dry-erase walls and special graphics to help distract patients during treatment. This ideal space is now a reality at the Atrium Health Levine Children’s Torrey Hemby Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. This new center is the latest addition to Atrium Health Levine Children’s Medical Plaza and will provide pediatric cancer and blood disorders patients with access to the latest treatment options, patient programs and medical technology.
The newest addition to the medical plaza will feature an on-site pharmacy and 48 patient care rooms, including exam and consultation rooms, infusion bays, a procedure room and recovery areas for post-procedure care. The pharmacy allows chemotherapy medicine to be made on-site, minimizing the wait time to receive treatment. Consultation rooms have virtual visit-enabled technology, allowing providers to offer consultations to patients all over the world.
The infusion suite will eventually be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week, to serve patients with convenient care across all pediatric subspecialties, not just cancer and blood disorders. The procedure room and recovery areas will allow patients to receive outpatient procedures like bone marrow aspirates and biopsies, lumbar punctures, and a multitude of other sedated procedures, without having to go to the hospital.
In addition, the 4th floor of the same building was also recently renovated and is home to multiple specialties: urology, neurology, general surgery, cleft, craniofacial & reconstructive surgery, neonatal follow-up, and adolescent gynecology. You can read more about it here.
Medical Care Done Better
Streamlining care is only one piece of the goal for the reimagined medical plaza. While the space delivers on the commitment to offer the latest treatment options, patient programs, and medical technology, Levine Children’s knows care is more than just medicine. “Offering these best-in-the-country technologies and treatment options is an affirmation of our commitment that no family should ever have to leave Charlotte for oncology and hematology care, but it also solidifies Atrium Health Levine Children’s as a true destination for pediatric specialty care,” said Dr. Javier Oesterheld, vice chair of clinical affairs and division chief of cancer and blood disorders at Levine Children's. From floor to ceiling – literally, the hallways have special floor tiles so children can skip, hop or jump from tile to tile and the ceiling tiles have fun-themed stamps – the space is visually designed for a child-like feel.
Beyond the aesthetics, the care teams are also dedicated to creating a safe, comfortable space for each patient. Child life specialists and other experts are available to help with distraction during procedures, explanation of diagnoses in age-appropriate terms and more.
One of the Nation’s Best
This latest addition to Atrium Health Levine Children’s is just one more reason that they were named one of the nation’s best children’s hospitals by U.S. News and World Report.
To learn more about the Levine Children’s Hospital rankings, please visit levinechildrens.org/best and join their conversations by following them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
