Simply put, Seattle Children's is running out of room.

Children's is at Capacity and Needs to Grow.
Children's does not have enough room to treat all of the patients that need the hospital's specialized services. Over the past year, Children's has been operating at or near capacity and has had to turn away 70 children because of lack of beds.

Click here to check out the press release Seattle Children's issued back in October taking a closer look at its capacity issues.

Below, take a look at the top three reasons Children's needs to grow now:

More Chronically Ill Children are Surviving and Thriving.
Thanks to advances in pediatric medicine over the past 20 years, more children with serious, chronic illnesses, such as congenital heart disease, cystic fibrosis or epilepsy, are living to become adults, and that’s great news. However, these children will need high-intensity health-care services longer and more frequently, often for the rest of their lives. Other conditions, such as diabetes, premature births and childhood obesity, are on the rise, all of which put pressure on Children’s. Often, children with chronic illnesses need to see a variety of pediatric specialists and subspecialists, who cannot be found at regular community hospitals and are only available at a children’s hospital. In fact, this population accounts for most of Children’s patients on any given day.

Single-Patient Rooms Stop the Spread of Infection and Insure Privacy.
Imagine having a very sick child; now imagine having to care for your child in a hospital room you share with another family. Not only is your child at greater risk of infection, your need for privacy is severely compromized. On any given day, Children’s could have 50 of their 250 patient rooms with children doubled up, sharing a room. Imagine adding parents, children and other loved ones around each of those beds, not to mention the attending nurses and doctors. Then imagine being there for days, or weeks without the comfort of a private family space. Hospitals nationwide are moving toward private rooms for another very important reason – because private rooms have been shown to decrease the spread of infection.Private rooms at children’s hospitals are especially important because:

• Young patients often need at least one parent with them at all times.
• Children with chronic illnesses often have compromised immune systems, making them increasingly susceptible to infection.

Seattle Children's is a Cherished Resource for our Region and One of the Nation's Top Pediatric Specialty Hospitals
In order to continue to support and attract the broadest range of pediatric specialists, Children's must grow to be able to accomodate demand and meet the needs of children in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. Because there is a shortage of pediatric specialists across the nation, competition is high and children's hospitals are best able to attract specialists and subspecialists. Most community hospitals instead devote their pediatric units primarily to prenatal and neonatal care.