Florida's children's hospitals are undergoing a renaissance as they unveil new and renovated facilities to better serve the state's fast-growing pediatric population.

Walt Disney Pavilion at Florida Hospital for Children

Walt Disney Pavilion at Florida Hospital for Children in Orlando. [Photo: Walt Disney Pavillion at Florida Hospital for Children]

Opened: March

Cost: $65 million

Services: 200 pediatric beds, a dedicated pediatric emergency department, an advanced 81-bed neonatal intensive care unit and pediatric surgical suites. More than 90 pediatric subspecialists at Florida Hospital for Children cover more than 30 pediatric subspecialties, including central Florida's only pediatric bone marrow and stem cell transplant program.

Notable: The hospital has an interactive lobby, designed with help from Disney, with characters such Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King and Flounder and Sebastian from The Little Mermaid. The nature-themed space of the lobby, which includes the ocean, savannah, jungles and mountains, are repeated throughout the hospital to create a healing environment. Each room has a flat-screen television, a family storage closet and large windows to stream in natural light.

Pediatric ER — Shands Hospital for Children at the University of Florida

Gainesville

Opened: July

Cost: Approximately $5 million

Services: Staffed by seven UF board-certified or board-eligible pediatric emergency medicine physicians and 22 Shands pediatric-trained emergency medicine registered nurses, the ER will be able to treat up to 24,000 pediatric emergency patients annually. It also includes a designated space for Gainesville's "Pediatrics After Hours" program, an effort between the UF College of Medicine and community pediatricians to provide appointment-style urgent primary care and non-emergency services.

Notable: The pediatric ER has a separate entrance with free valet parking. The check-in and waiting areas feature child-friendly decor with a nautical theme that includes porthole windows, saltwater aquariums and floors made to look like waves. The ER has nine private and two semi-private treatment rooms, five observation beds, two exam rooms for children with infectious conditions, two resuscitation rooms and a conscious-sedation room for casting broken bones and stitching wounds. The radiology imaging room is equipped to deliver the lowest-dose radiation to its young patients.

Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital

Hollywood

Opened: July as a freestanding hospital

Cost: $140 million

Services: The hospital handles more than 8,000 admissions and observation cases annually. The hospital's board-certified pediatric specialists treat a range of maladies from hematology and oncology to pediatric heart and neurological disease. The expansion to a stand-alone facility features 48 beds, six operating rooms and a separate oncology unit. It is connected to its pediatric critical services via a skywalk to the existing Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital at Memorial Regional Hospital, which opened in 1992.

Notable: The four-story facility showcases a "Power of Play" theme with each floor displaying themes of sports, arts, games or dreams. The "Get Well Network" provides each patient with access to a television, movies, video games, the internet and educational programs, and a room service model allows patients and their families to order food from a menu when they want it, rather than at designated meal times. Imaging equipment in the pirate-themed CT scan room reduces radiation exposure to about 30% to 40% less than a conventional scan.

Nemours Children's Hospital

Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando [Photo: Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando]

Opening: 2012

Cost: $380 million

Services: The hospital will include an 18-bed emergency department, diagnostic and ambulatory care centers and extensive research and education facilities. Situated on a 60-acre campus, the 620,000-sq.-ft. facility will include 95 beds, a neonatal intensive care unit and departments specializing in complex childhood diseases.

Notable: Framed around a family-centered model of care, the facility will offer a care coordination program known as Kids Track, featuring a small-group family education and concierge service. The hospital will also have complimentary valet parking, a colorful, bilingual "way-finding system" and comfortable and spacious gathering, reception and lounge areas. Patient rooms are spacious and private, equipped with refrigerators and floor-to-ceiling windows. In-room dining and sleep accommodations will be provided for parents. The hospital will have healing gardens and nature trails as well as pet, art and music therapy programs.

All Children's Hospital

All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg [Photo: All Children's Hospital]

Opened: 2010

Cost: $403 million

Services: Founded in 1926 to treat children stricken with polio and other crippling disorders, All Children's today provides comprehensive pediatric services and specialized services such as heart transplantation, pediatric and perinatal cardiology, cancer care, blood and marrow transplantation and pediatric trauma services. All Children's operates one of the largest neonatal intensive care programs in the southeastern U.S. and houses a high-risk obstetrics unit called Bayfront Baby Place in partnership with the nearby Bayfront Medical Center.

Notable: The hospital built a new 10-story, 259-bed facility that is twice the size of the old one. Rooms are private and include an extra bed and a shower. The rooms have dorm-sized refrigerators, views of Tampa Bay, HDTV, movies on demand and access to the internet. The building's hurricane-resistant design includes windows that can withstand winds up to 130 mph; a central energy plant that will allow the hospital to run without outside power for up to 21 days; and a well that produces potable water should the city water supply become unusable. The hospital also has a playground, a children's auditorium and play rooms.

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Take a video tour of All Children's Hospital, Nemour's Children's Hospital, Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital and the Walt Disney Pavilion at Florida Hospital.

Tags: Healthcare