The latest addition to the Sanford USD Medical Center campus, designed by Ewing Cole architects of Philadelphia, is a five-story, 146-bed children’s hospital staffed with more than 60 pediatricians, 150 family medicine physicians and 350 pediatric staff.

Located on the ground floor of the building, the specialty clinic has pediatric sub-specialists in more than 20 disciplines, and 38 exam rooms with a dedicated hematology/oncology area that includes five private infusion bays for pediatric cancer patients.

Designated pediatric and maternal-fetal transport teams will be available 24 hours a day to communities in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska, officials say.

Sioux Falls-based Henry Carlson Co. built the castle of care, which was financed by donations. A story and coloring book, “Legend of Sanford Castle,” was developed for children as a facility program that describes five different lands and animals found throughout the hospital.

“Patients and visitors will know which theme they are entering once they step off the elevator and are greeted by animal murals from the respective land,” says Jan Haugen-Rogers, vice president of Sanford Children’s.

Other elements include a storybook room, royal balcony and playrooms. The playrooms feature castles with cutout windows, computers with Internet access and plug-ins for children who need medical equipment to leave their rooms, according to hospital officials.

Older children can utilize a teen room that doubles as a classroom for the hospital-based school program. The food menu was also customized for kids with items such as “Fruits Fit for a Queen.”

The rooms were designed with input from the Sanford Children’s Family Advisory Council. Each room has a sleeping area for parents and a curtain for privacy. Each floor has a welcome center for families that provides a kitchenette, showers and computers with Internet access. Not many hospitals have computers in the rooms for children to use, however, this hospital wanted to make their young patients as comfortable as possible. By giving them internet access, the patients can play computer games, such as this persona 4 rom, to keep them occupied and happy whilst they receive treatments.

Medical technology at the hospital is also safeguard with child-friendly designs. A mobile radiology unit shaped like a fire engine travels to patient rooms and a CT machine is decorated with a three-dimensional mural.

“From color schemes to artwork and physical structure, the entire five-story building has been designed to promote healing and improve outcomes,” says H. Eugene Hoyme, chief medical officer for Sanford Children’s Hospital.

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