Community leaders, a children’s choir and comic book heroes were among the people who celebrated the grand opening of the Spence and Becky Wilson Baptist Children’s Hospital on Jan. 22. Instead of the traditional ribbon cutting that accompanies the opening of a new facility, Baptist officials participated in a ribbon-tying.
“The ribbon-tying will represent us tying ourselves to the community. It’s the tie that binds us together,” said Anita Vaughn, CEO and administrator at Baptist Women’s Hospital.
The centerpiece of the new facility, a 10-room, 17,000-square-foot emergency department, will begin accepting patients on Jan. 28. The department will provide care for a host of issues, including broken bones; fever; sprains, strains and tears; dehydration; flu; respiratory illnesses; lacerations and more.
Through the Spence and Becky Wilson Baptist Children’s Hospital, Baptist Women’s Hospital will be able to provide more extensive care to the 5,000 babies a year who are born at the facility.
“Being able to put women and children together under one roof is our dream come true,” said Vaughn.
An emergency department is one of many pediatric services Baptist Women’s Hospital offers. The hospital also offers orthopedics, diagnostics, inpatient and outpatient surgery, and the Pediatric Eye Center. Three pediatric hospitalists, a pediatric surgeon, a pediatric anesthesiologist and a number of other specialists work exclusively at the hospital.
Baptist leadership has plans to add additional pediatric services and technology. Those plans got a big boost in November when Memphians Spence and Becky Wilson made a transformative gift to foster the continued development of pediatric services.
“The Wilsons’ generous gift will really propel us forward by helping us to immediately purchase equipment to grow our general surgery and orthopedic services,” said Vaughn. “We also plan to offer a pediatric intensive care unit, pending state approval.”
The Wilsons’ gift also will help the hospital hire additional specialists trained in pediatric care.