Summerlin hospital prepares pediatric unit

Summerlin Hospital Medical Center is preparing for the completion of its $7.8 million, three-story addition, which will add 46,000 square feet to the hospital's north tower.

A portion of the expansion opened recently, adding 58 private patient rooms. The remainder of the 76-bed addition is planned to open in early 2005 and includes a pediatric intensive care unit.

Leslie Paul Luke, chief executive officer of the hospital, said the pediatric intensive care unit is one of only four in Southern Nevada and the first to be located in the western suburbs of Las Vegas.

"The Summerlin area is home to a growing number of young families and it's creating a need for quality health care services for children. The pediatric unit is a top priority for the hospital. It will be equipped with some of the latest technologies and run by specially trained professionals," Luke said.

The new pediatric unit was designed to appeal to children and has an animal theme, said Susan Johnson, director of pediatrics and a registered nurse. Various animals decorate the patients' rooms, animatronic butterflies and dragonflies highlight the exam room, and a three-dimensional underwater scene is featured in the playroom.

"It's all part of our initiative to make children feel comfortable and entertained while they're at the hospital," Johnson said. "Local artists Cindy Chinn and Catherine Britton are the creative minds behind the children's art masterpieces that cover the walls."

"Summerlin Hospital Medical Center has been a landmark in the community since 1997," Tom Warden, an executive with Summerlin's developer, The Howard Hughes Corp. "The facility has grown with the community, always keeping pace with the ever-expanding population without compromising its high standard of medical care."

Summerlin ranked as the country's best-selling master-planned community for much of the last decade, according to independent surveys. The community is being developed in villages and is home to 107 neighborhood and village parks, more than 100 miles of trails, houses of worship, shopping and business centers, medical facilities, cultural facilities, and nearly 120 model homes.

Single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums are priced from the mid-$300,000s to more than $2 million. Custom-home sites are priced from the $500,000s. Monthly rent for apartments start from the mid-$800s.

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