Children's hospital opens in Mesa

MESA, Ariz. - Mesa is now home to a new 248-bed children's hospital.

The first 50 patients were wheeled into the Cardon Children's Medical Center at 7:30 Monday morning.

Doctor Jeff Lobas is chief medical officer for Cardon. He says the hospital is the first in the East Valley to offer several services, including "pediatric pulmonary service, for Level 3 newborn intensive care unit, for pediatric surgery, for pediatric neurosurgery, for pediatric plastic surgery."

The seven story facility offers separate floors for infants and toddlers, school age children and teenagers.

Seven-week-old David Pinto was among the first to have surgery. He's recuperating well after being treated for a cleft palate. His mother, Arlete, says the hospital's great. "Since you walk in, everybody's very welcoming. They make you feel like you're home."

David's father, Abel, said he was excited. "It's been a great experience because we never actually had that kind of experience . . . very happy. Not nervous at all."

The hospital cost $356 million to build. It offers state of the art technology, plus two classrooms and three teachers on staff to help kids keep up with their studies while they're in the hospital.

It also features family lounges on each of its seven floors that offer kitchens, a dishwasher and laundry services.

Cardon Children's Medical Center joins Phoenix Children's Hospital as the Valley's second hospital exclusively for children. A third, the West Valley Children's Center, will open in February at Banner Thunderbird Hospital in Glendale.

"They will have a 44-bed general pediatric unit and a 14-bed pediatrict intensive care unit," said Lobas. He said children who need complex neurosurgical care or complex heart surgery probably will end up at the Mesa facility.

Phoenix Children's Hospital, meanwhile, is expanding. It plans to open an 11-story patient tower by 2012.

On the Net:

• www.bannerhealth.com