The University of South Alabama Children’s & Women’s Hospital in Mobile marked the completion of a major addition to its campus this week, inviting the public to see a newly finished courtyard, main lobby and gift shop during a family-friendly open house.
The celebration was scheduled for a Thursday afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m., with hospital officials planning a full slate of activities for children and families. Organizers said the event would feature university mascots, cheerleading squads and pet therapy teams making the rounds through the new space, along with a visit from Ronald McDonald.
Entertainment continued into Friday morning, when a touring juggling act called “Playing By Air” performed in the new courtyard specifically for pediatric patients still recovering inside the hospital, according to hospital representatives who helped coordinate the two-day celebration.
The newly opened areas represent the second phase of a sweeping 195,000-square-foot expansion at the hospital, a project with a total budget of $72.6 million. The first phase, a new patient tower, was dedicated back in September 2013 and has been in use since.
Phase two, unveiled this week, focused on transforming the hospital’s main entrance experience. Crews renovated and enlarged the lobby and gift shop and built a covered courtyard connector linking the newer tower to the hospital’s original building, giving families a more direct and welcoming path between the two structures.
University officials broke ground on the overall expansion back in November 2010. Construction costs for the second phase alone totaled roughly $45 million, according to figures released by the hospital, as part of the larger $72.6 million investment in pediatric and women’s health care in the Mobile area.
The hospital, part of the University of South Alabama’s health system, has grown steadily over the past decade as demand for specialized pediatric and maternity services has increased across the Gulf Coast region. Administrators have pointed to the expanded courtyard and lobby as evidence of that continued investment, saying the redesigned spaces were built with young patients and their families in mind, from more natural light to easier navigation for parents moving between waiting areas and treatment floors.
For families in Mobile and surrounding communities, the completed project adds another layer of amenities to a hospital that has become a regional hub for children’s health care and high-risk maternity services in South Alabama.