‘The future is here’: New Borowy Family Children’s Critical Care Tower to officially open

After years of anticipation, the new Borowy Family Children’s Critical Care Tower will officially open Tuesday, April 5, 2022, connecting people of all ages with the world-class care provided at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville. The first patients were transferred from the previous Wolfson Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) to the tower’s new three-floor, high-level Neonatal Intensive Care Center on February 22, 2022. Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) patients will follow in the coming days and weeks.

Crews broke ground on the seven-story, $224 million building in May 2019.

“This is the culmination of years of hard work that started long before we ever put shovel to dirt on the construction site,” said Michael A. Mayo, DHA, FACHE, president and CEO of Baptist Health. “Every aspect of this building was designed with our patients and their families in mind. We engaged them throughout this process, along with our hard-working team members, to ensure all would have the optimal experience when coming to Baptist Jacksonville and Wolfson Children’s.”

With five floors dedicated to children’s intensive care, the Borowy Family Children’s Critical Care Tower provides the space and resources needed to care for the region’s growing number of critically ill and injured newborns and children, including:

• A high-level Neonatal Intensive Care Center spanning three floors
• A Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
• A Neuro-Intensive Care Unit
• A Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU)
• A Burn & Wound Unit

Designed to meet the unique needs of children and families, each room has a private bath, can comfortably sleep two parents and maximizes natural light, which helps promote well-being in postpartum mothers, infants and children. The Chartrand Frisch Family Birth and Newborn Center at Baptist Jacksonville has direct access to the new Neonatal Intensive Care Center, expediting specialized care immediately after birth, if needed.

“Our goal when building the Borowy Family Children’s Critical Care Tower was to create the best neonatal and pediatric intensive care center in the world,” said Michael D. Aubin, FACHE, president of Wolfson Children’s Hospital and chief philanthropy officer of the Baptist Health Foundation. “To do this, we sought state-of-the-art technology that transforms the way our physician specialists and other clinicians care for our patients. This is something we couldn’t have even dreamt of when we opened our first NICU and PICU half a century ago, but now, the future is here.”

Some of the technological highlights of the Borowy Family Children’s Critical Care Tower include:

• Philips Predictive Analytics System: This first-of-its-kind platform will use machine learning (artificial intelligence) to gather and display data from multiple sources on a screen in every NICU patient’s suite. This information – from vitals to lab and imaging results – will help neonatologists and other clinicians predict trends that could indicate an adverse event, such as respiratory failure or stroke, before it happens so they can intervene earlier. All 127 new patient suites in the Borowy Family Children’s Critical Care Tower are equipped for the future use of predictive analytics.
• Embrace® Neonatal MRI: Designed specifically for the smallest and most vulnerable newborns, this neuro-imaging scanner is located in the NICU to allow for safe and convenient patient transport. This innovative MRI scanner will provide thermal support to keep the baby warm and allow parents to remain nearby during scans and watch the process via a full-color video display. Wolfson Children’s is the first hospital in Florida and one of four in the world with this advanced imaging capability.
• Enhanced GetWell Network: A significant upgrade to our GetWell Network will allow patients and families to take a more active role in their health care. They will have more control over their in-room experience through access to entertainment, education and personalized care plans.

The first two floors of the Borowy Family Children’s Critical Care Tower serve as the main lobbies and entryway to Wolfson Children’s and Baptist Jacksonville. The skybridge, which opened in January, allows patients to cross safely over Palm Avenue from the P2 parking garage and connects directly to the second-floor lobby of the new tower.

“This is more than just a front door to our campuses, it is a gateway to hope and healing,” said Nicole Thomas, FACHE, president of Baptist Jacksonville. “People from across the Southeast and far beyond will come here to seek compassionate care delivered by a team of world-class experts. With the opening of this building, we are one step closer to achieving our vision of a lifetime of health, together.”

For photos, video and fact sheets, click here to access the digital media kit.

Through Hope Starts Here – a giving campaign to ensure our most vulnerable patients receive the highest level of intensive care – our community has generously raised more than $50 million toward our $60 million goal. The Borowy Family Children's Critical Care Tower is now a reality, but we still need your help. Visit hopestartshere.com to learn more.