“We will actually be able to expand access and services to patients in and around the township and the region – more so than we are able to provide today,’’ said Dr. Erika Stalets, an intensive care physician who is the physician leader for the expansion.
The expansion will bring 72 additional beds to the hospital, up from the 42 it now has. The addition will house four new operating rooms, three surgical procedure room, 10 rooms for the emergency department, and the 114 inpatient rooms. It is set to open in 2028.
Renovation of more than 100,000 square feet of space will add eight new rooms for imaging when it is finished in the summer of 2029. It will allow for expansion of a pharmacy, a lab and Sterile Processing Department, an outdoor dining area, a new lobby and a patient drop-off spot.
Specialty clinics will move from the hospital to the medical building when it is finished.
“We are very excited to be able to enhance our access, but probably more important, keep patients closer to home,’’ Stalets said.
“We believe we offer the best pediatric care in the region and it would be great to keep our kids closer to home.”
The hospital first opened its doors in 2008 with 12 beds. Two years later an inpatient unit opened, allowing for hospital stays of more than one night.
In 2014, an urgent care center was added. The next year a 70,000 square foot addition opened. It added a four floor, 30 beds, kitchen, cafeteria, outpatient pharmacy, family resource center and other amenities.
A proton therapy center to treat cancer patients opened in 2016. The hospital built extended-stay family apartments that opened in 2022.
“In the very first year that Cincinnati Children’s Liberty Campus was open, the patients we cared for had approximately 109,000 visits,” said Dr. Evaline Alessandrini, chief operating officer.
“Now, our Liberty Campus has nearly tripled in volume of care delivered – with more than 282,000 patient encounters a year, including an average of 60 surgeries a day.”
Site preparation work will begin in March and includes grading, parking relocation, and separation of construction activities from ongoing patient visits during construction, according to paperwork filed with the township.
Construction on the four-story medical office building will begin this summer and be finished in 2027, according to a statement from the hospital.
The cost of the project is estimated at $365 million, including design, construction, and medical equipment. The expansion is expected to add 250 jobs at the Liberty campus over five years. There are about 1,025 employees there now.
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