Regal Foundation gift to enhance facilities at Children's Hospital

Everyone loves a great movie with a happy ending, and the nation's largest movie theater company, Regal Entertainment Group, is creating a happy ending for Children's Hospital in 2010.

Children's Hospital strives to remain on the cutting edge of medical technology with frequent equipment purchases and upgrades. This ensures a high quality of care for our patients. But facilities also have an impact on quality of care. A healing environment is nearly as important as the latest medical tool in helping a child to recover.

In the past several years, Children's Hospital has invested significant money in enhancing and expanding its facilities, but more remains to be done. As the hospital's patient population grows, some areas have become overcrowded, which is uncomfortable for families.

The Regal Foundation of the Regal Entertainment Group has stepped forward to assist Children's Hospital in two key improvement projects, providing a $750,000 donation over five years to fund the Main Lobby expansion and improvements to the Pre-Operative Holding and Family Waiting Areas.

Regal Entertainment Group, based in Knoxville, operates the largest and most geographically diverse movie theater circuit in the United States, consisting of 6,768 screens in 548 theatres in 39 states and the District of Columbia as of December 2009, with over 245 million annual attendees. Regal is a long-time supporter of Children's Hospital.

"Regal Entertainment Group is pleased to be able to provide support for East Tennessee Children's Hospital. This grant will provide funding to help renovate the main lobby as well as the pre-operative holding and family waiting area which will enhance the comfort and security for children and their families. We are always pleased to support East Tennessee Children's Hospital as they provide the best possible health care for the children in the community in which we live and operate," said Greg Dunn, President and Chief Operating Officer for Regal Entertainment Group.

"Children's Hospital is most appreciative of this gift from The Regal Foundation to assist us in our efforts to improve our facilities," said Keith Goodwin, Children's Hospital President/CEO. "Family-centered care is a key focus of our hospital, and that means that our facilities must meet general family needs, not just their child's health care needs.

"An overcrowded lobby is inconvenient and uncomfortable, but our existing space cannot accommodate greater volume. An expansion is necessary here, and funds from The Regal Foundation will enable us to perform this expansion in a quality manner," Goodwin continued. "And the projects on the Surgical Floor will both enhance safety for patients and improve comfort for their families."

Main Lobby Expansion -- $500,000

The "front door" or main lobby is an important space for any business. It is the portal through which it welcomes, directs and supports the initial needs of customers. The "front door" at Children's Hospital is the first stop for families coming to the pediatric medical center to receive care. It is also the primary connector between the hospital and two adjacent office buildings. The hospital gift shop is also located in the main lobby.

In any given year the lobby will have more than 170,000 patients and visitors spending time either for services or gathering for conversation. As the primary connector to all other services, the lobby will have nearly 200,000 individuals pass through on their way to other destinations.

While the décor has been updated periodically, the size and design of the lobby has remained unchanged since 1970, the year the hospital moved to its current location on Clinch Avenue in Knoxville. Over the last almost 40 years, Children's Hospital has more than tripled in size and activity, so what was long ago an appropriately sized space has become small and consistently overcrowded.

Imagine walking into a generously-sized, theater-style waiting area, with fixed (non-folding) movie-theater-style seats, with separate seating areas for quiet conversations or watching a movie on a large screen. The area offers plenty of seating and a nearby coffee bar where you can purchase a drink. Thanks to the Regal Foundation's generous gift, this is soon to become a reality at Children's Hospital.

Plans are underway to double the size of the lobby through the closure of the little-used atrium adjacent to the lobby area. When complete, the lobby space will grow from 1,058 to 2,210 square feet. The new design will double the number of seats available for families, provide amenities such as child-friendly restrooms and a coffee bar, feature all new décor and offer space for patients to gather for educational events.

Last year, nearly 12,000 children had surgery at Children's Hospital. To ensure the continuation of the highest standards of safety, the pre-operative holding area will be expanded to 1,248 square feet. This expansion will provide ample space for surgeons, the anesthesia team and nursing staff to complete the first steps of a safe surgical experience -- meet individually with each patient, verify the procedure(s) to be performed and mark the surgery site(s). Parents will also be able to stay in the holding area with their child until just before surgery time; this is a key family-centered care concept that helps families cope better with surgery.

"We're excited about the new pre-operative holding area," said Alfred Kennedy, M.D., pediatric surgeon and Chief of Surgery at Children's Hospital. "It will allow surgeons and anesthesiologists to speak with the family before surgery without leaving the surgical area. It will give us a better chance to answer last-minute questions and hopefully calm any final fears that all parents have about their child's surgery. It will also allow parents to stay with their children until just before they leave for surgery."