Golisano Children’s Hospital Unveils Two New Floors

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The University of Rochester (UR) Medicine’s Golisano Children’s Hospital unveiled two new floors — the fourth and sixth floors — to the community on Aug. 9 and celebrated the completion of Phase II construction on the new hospital building. A part of the University of Rochester Medical Center complex, the Golisano Children’s Hospital is located in a new, eight-story addition connected to Strong Memorial Hospital.

The design team for the project included Ballinger Architects, headquartered in Philadelphia, and Denver-based ArtHouse Design. The project had a budget of $45 million and was made possible with the support of thousands of donations. The project began shortly after the building’s dedication in 2015.

The new floors at the children’s hospital bring several significant advancements to the facility. The areas on the new floors were opened progressively to the public over the course of August and include six new pediatric operating rooms in the William and Mildred Levine Pediatric Surgical Suite, the addition of which puts the hospital on the same level as children’s hospitals in many of the country’s largest cities, and far surpassing other children’s hospitals in the region.

Additionally, the new floors include the Clay E. and Rita M. Buzzard Pediatric Cardiac Cath Lab Suite and a gastroenterology surgical procedure suite. There are 23 new private pre-op and post-op recovery rooms as well as the relocation of the current 12 ICU and 10 general care pediatric beds to the new tower. There was also an addition of six new pediatric ICU beds to meet rising demand.

The influence of ArtHouse Design brings vibrant environmental graphics, images and icons to the new floors — as well as to the rest of the hospital — to make the hospital as warm, welcoming and comfortable to children as possible.

Each level of Golisano Children’s Hospital features color and graphics related to Lake, Meadow, Glenn, Garden, Park and City, as related to the geography of upstate New York. The graphics on each level are intended to help adults as well as children navigate the hospital with a distinct sense of place for each level.

Other unique design elements of the new floors include custom-designed, backlit nurses’ station desks with warm and inviting white cubes; back-lit, floor-to-ceiling graphics and photographic murals; interactive, kinetic games embedded in the walls for children to interact and play with; vibrantly colored, five-foot-diameter graphic icons that identify the level in elevator lobbies; glass walls with patterns that feature grass, flowers and water patterns; and playful wall graphics inside each of the exam and treatment rooms.

Fundraising for Phase II construction is still underway and has been supported by numerous gifts. These gifts include $2 million from Rita Buzzard in honor of her late husband, Clay, and a $750,000 pledge from Andy McDermott and Rob Burch, creators of the Fairport Music Festival.