Nationwide Children’s Hospital to break ground this year for research building to complete $840 million expansion

January 8, 2010 5:37 pm by Mary Vanac | 0 Comments

Rendering of Nationwide Children's Hospital Research III building

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nationwide Children’s Hospital plans to break ground this year for the third research building and final piece of an $840 million strategic expansion plan announced in 2005.

The entire expansion plan is expected to create 2,000 jobs and deliver a $1.3 billion economic impact each year, according to a Nationwide Children’s release. When completed, the hospital is expected to be the second largest pediatric hospital nationwide.

“The completion of Research Building III will significantly expand our capacity for leading-edge child health research,” said Dr. John Barnard, president of the research institute, in the hospital’s release. “Among the areas of research emphasis to be located in the new facility are scientific programs related to prematurity and pediatric heart disease.”

The building, as well as financial support for research from the hospital and community, and the recruitment of renowned scientists and their federal grants, “will further enhance the impact and national visibility of our outstanding research programs,” Barnard said.

Research III is slated to open in late 2012. The six-floor building will cost $93 million to build, adding 225,000 square feet to the current 300,000 square feet in the Wexner Institute for Pediatric Research and Research II.

The new research building, for which hospital trustees soon are expected to approve a final construction budget, is being planned to be LEED-certified, meaning it will follow standards of environmental sustainability.

The hospital’s research institute attracted $49.4 million in external funding in 2007, more than double $20 million in 2000. The institute is expected to garner $268.6 million in external support over the next five years, making it one of the fastest growing pediatric research institutes in the United States, the hospital said in its release.

Research institute faculty and staff include 56 research fellows, 61 graduate students, 734 employees and 118 principal investigators, the hospital said.

In September 2008, the hospital broke ground for a 12-floor, 750,000-square-foot main hospital building, which is also expected to open in 2012.

“Our goal is to provide research and patient-care facilities that set a new standard in children’s health care,” Dr. Steve Allen, Nationwide Children’s chief executive, said in the release. “Last year, Nationwide Children’s provided more than $88 million in uncompensated care and community benefits, and as the community grows, so does the need.”