LPCH 2.0 Equals New Opportunities for Pediatric Surgeons and Patients

The new Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford (LPCH) is slated to open its doors to patients on Saturday, December 9, 2017. The $1.2 billion project, which broke ground in 2012, adds 521,000 square feet of building and 3.5 acres of open space and gardens.

“The architects understood that wellness is important to the healing process,” said Dr. James Dunn, Chief of Pediatric General Surgery. “It’s going to be a bright and cheerful place for employees to work and patients to heal.”

LPCH 2.0 will feature a new Treatment Center that encompasses surgery, imaging, interventional and nuclear medicine. The surgical suites are still under construction and are scheduled to open mid-year 2018 to provide a total of 13 operating rooms, more than any other children’s hospital in Northern California.

“The new building will be an extraordinarily healing experience with the latest technology to advance medicine,” said Kristin Petersen, vice president, procedural and diagnostic services at Stanford Children’s Health.

Additionally, the new building will provide 149 new patient beds.

“I’m most excited about being able to take care of more patients,” said Dunn. “In the current building, we have limited capacity and have had to divert patients as a result.”

Petersen says she anticipates hiring 15-20 new surgical recruits over the next few years to accommodate the increased number of patients.

“All the surgical services have been recruiting people,” said Dunn. “We’ve recruited two [pediatric surgeons] already, and there are two more to come.”

Dr. Stephen Shew joined the Division of Pediatric General Surgery team in September, and Dr. Bill Chiu is scheduled to begin in January 2018. Pediatric Surgery Division Manager Lisa Lester says the division has also been hiring more staff to support their expanding operations.

“These new surgeons will develop innovative specialty surgical programs for our patients,” said Dunn. “It’s a pivotal time for Stanford Pediatric Surgery.”

After December 9, all pediatric surgery patients will be admitted through the new entrance located on Quarry road.