New pediatric unit to serve as home away from home - WNEM TV 5

A Mid-Michigan hospital renovated an entire floor to serve as the pediatric care unit and held its grand opening on Thursday.

On the 11th floor of Hurley Medical Center in Flint, the ribbon was cut to officially open the new unit.

Sick children and their families now have a state of the art pediatric unit to serve them in Mid-Michigan.

After six months of construction work, the $1.5 million project opened its doors.

“It is awesome. I’ve been here with the Hurley family for over 23 years and I never thought I would see the possibility of us having the capability of offering private rooms,” said Mattie Pearson, with Hurley Medical Center.

Those rooms are state of the art and allow parents to stay with their children overnight.

The rooms are occupied with a couch and chair that both fold out into beds. The bathrooms are also easy to navigate.

Little ones will love the playroom where there are all kinds of toys to keep them occupied and books to read.

“This is a room where, yes, the children have to be patients here. Yes, they have to get their treatments. They have to get their pokes. They have to get their shots. They have to take their medicine. But in this room, this is a playroom. And they can come down and just be children,” said Laura Parcels, with Hurley Medical Center.

There is also a brand-new gaming center for the teenagers who come to the pediatric unit.

“Just keeping up with technology and keeping up with the teens, giving them the ability to be the gamers. So when they feel like gaming and searching the web, it’s like huge TV screens. Like larger than ones I have at home,” Pearson said.

It is a home away from home for children and their families during their recovery time.

The new pediatric unit features 14 private rooms and was funded through the Hurley Foundation.

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