VUMC CRC Pediatric Facilities Core

The Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt (VCH) opened in February 2004. This eight floor, 616,785-square-foot facility houses more than 200 pediatric inpatient beds, a 35-bed PICU, 60-bed NICU, a 30-room pediatric emergency department, and the ancillary services needed to provide comprehensive pediatric care. There is an adjacent outpatient tower connected at all levels to the inpatient facilities. The Children’s Hospital provides the region with an up-to-date, state-of-the-art facility dedicated to meeting the unique healthcare needs of children, from newborns to young adults, by providing both primary care and subspecialty services. The referral area for the hospital includes Nashville, Middle Tennessee, southern Kentucky, and northern Alabama. Less than one year after its move into this facility, which is nationally recognized for its design, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt was awarded the honor of ranking in the top 10 children's hospitals in the nation, according to Child magazine.

The Children’s Hospital Doctor’s Office Tower (DOT) provides more than 800,000 square feet of pediatric facilities. The DOT houses the newly established Pediatric Clinical Research Center in space generously donated by John Lee Jr. and now available exclusively for pediatric clinical research (see photograph). The facility administered and governed by the CRC allows easy access and parking, a separate waiting area accessible from the main elevator of the Children’s Hospital, a small check-in area, four outpatient exam rooms, two exam rooms with two-way mirrors for behavioral research, areas for specimen processing and sample storage convenient for both inpatient and outpatient sample processing, table-top centrifuges, a refrigerator and -20°C freezer, 10 computer workstations for use by investigators and other research staff, an administrative office, a large conference room, and storage areas for supplies.

This space is utilized primarily for outpatient research, but will be the focal point where investigators and coordinators come to process samples from inpatient studies and enter data on the many available computer workstations. This new facility also provides: close proximity to ancillary pediatric services such as radiology, Child Life services, IV team, respiratory therapy, and pediatric occupational and physical therapy. Due to the distance from the Children’s Hospital, such pediatric ancillary services are no longer available in the existing adult CRC. Further, the Children’s Hospital incorporates a child-friendly environment with designated areas for play and interaction with other children. These additional facilities will provide space for nurses and investigators who need room for teaching, parent conferences, organizational and administrative meetings, directing patient care activities, data entry and analysis, and monitoring visits for the clinical trials.