PHOTOS: New Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford Opens

PALO ALTO, CA — The long-awaited Opening Day of the new Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford building arrived Saturday, Dec. 9 when more than 100 pediatric patients were moved from the existing facility— now called the West building — across to the new Main building. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Nov. 30 and the hospital received its license from the California Department of Public Health on Dec. 4.

“Hundreds of staff prepared for months and months for this day, when this new building became part of our working hospital,” said Christopher G. Dawes, president and CEO of the hospital and Stanford Children’s Health.

Designed to transform the patient and family experience, the new 521,000-square-foot building more than doubles the size of the existing pediatric and obstetric hospital campus. The new building adds 149 patient beds for a total of 361 on the Palo Alto campus, enabling the hospital to serve more patients than ever before, and allowing it to deploy awaited renovation plans for the existing hospital building.

To run the new building, the hospital hired more than 500 new staff members in positions ranging from nursing to food and housekeeping service roles.

Saturday, the young patients were transferred into new acute patient care units and pediatric and cardiovascular intensive care units.

Private patient rooms in the new building are more spacious, with sleeping accommodations for two family members and amenities on every floor, hospital officials say. Special features that help make the space unique and kid-friendly include a large digital interactive wall as well as a dedicated broadcast studio.

Surrounding the new building, 3.5 acres of gardens and green spaces reflect the flora and topography of Northern California. The hospital’s Dunlevie Garden features educational and engaging sculptures for children to physically explore.

According to Dawes, the patient move day marked a significant milestone, but it is one of many to come over the next several years as construction continues on parts of the Main building and awaited renovations kick off in the West building.

Watch this video of the ribbon cutting:

Courtesy photos by Steve Babuljak, Beth Barton, Leslie Williamson and Paul Sakuma