Developer donates $15 million for children’s hospital

TUCSON — Plans for a children’s research hospital near the University of Arizona were unveiled Wednesday morning, revealing that funding will be jump-started by a $15 million donation from developer Donald Diamond and his wife, Joan.

Diamond Children’s Medical Center is part of a six-story, $200 million expansion on University Medical Center, set to be completed in 2010. The 116-bed, 100,000-square-foot hospital will occupy the top three floors; its lower levels will be the new trauma center for UMC.

Wednesday’s press conference marked the start of a campaign to raise the $40 million needed to finish the hospital, which will cost $55 million. Funding will rely on philanthropic donations, officials say.

The drive comes at the same time the Carondelet Foundation is trying to raise $10 million to build a hospital in Sahuarita by 2012.

“This children’s hospital will become an enormous asset to Tucson and the region,” said Diamond in a statement. “We‘re proud and honored to be associated with the campaign to create it, and we invite those of you who value excellence in health care for children to join us.”

The Diamonds, who lost their daughter to an asthma-related illness at an early age, have been major supporters of the university’s Steele Children’s Research Center, which will be linked to the hospital.

This would make it the only children’s hospital in Arizona associated with an academic research insitution, said Dr. Fayez Ghishan, the head of the UA Department of Pediatrics and the Steele Center.

“A children’s hospital connected to an academic research facility provides an integrated system of clinical care, cutting-edge research, and training of the next generation of pediatricians,” said Ghishan, who contends that the state-of-the-art hospital will be in league with the prestigious Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Children’s Hospital Boston and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn, which are all affiliated with research universities.

“New technology will be brought literally from bench to bedside, for the benefit of our young patients,” said university president Robert Shelton, who hopes the research center will be a magnet for pediatric specialists and researchers.

“Our children will now be able to stay in Tucson for all of their sophisticated medical needs,” Shelton said.

The hospital is planned to have a 36-bed neonatal intensive care unit, 36 medical/surgery rooms, 20 rooms for pediatric intensive care, 12 rooms for hematology/oncology and six for blood and marrow transplantation.

The building, which will feature a large structural emblem of a kite, was designed with the help of children and their parents to be a “beautiful healing environment,” said Lori Throne, director of UMC Women and Children’s Services, in a statement.

Features include a pediatric playroom on each floor, a teen activity room, a stage for performances and parties, and a library/classroom for children needing tutoring. The specially themed hospital will also feature a meditation room and a healing garden.

“It will be both a warm and welcoming place, appealing to all of the senses,” Throne said.

“From the moment you walk into the hospital lobby, with its natural lighting and creative design, you’ll know you have entered a special place for children.”

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