Meet a 2-year-old ready for their growth spurt.

CHoR leadership is dedicated to ensuring there is room for every child who needs our care. Since the Children’s Tower opened in 2023, patient volume and requests for critical health services have increased substantially. Although it happened much faster than originally anticipated, we knew this growth would come, which is why the Tower was built with three shell floors that were left vacant for future expansion. With the need for additional bed capacity clear and imminent, expansion plans have begun. Philanthropy will serve as a catalyst, accelerating the hospital’s construction timeline and enabling us to more quickly meet the needs of the families we serve.  

Neonatal intensive care unit

Expansions include building a 20-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), which will increase total neonatal bed capacity from 40 to 60. The 20-bed unit will complement our 40-bed NICU that will remain open in the VCU Medical Center Critical Care Hospital, adjacent to labor and delivery services. In 2024, the NICU at CHoR was on diversion (unable to accept new patients or transfers) for over 300 days, underscoring an urgent gap in capacity. 

Acute care unit

The hospital will build an additional 24 bed acute care unit to increase capacity from 48 to 72 total acute care beds. This expansion will address not only the immediate patient care needs but also bolsters the hospital’s broader research mission. With more available beds, the hospital can support novel treatments and expand clinical research efforts, which depend heavily on adequate capacity to admit and care for patients. 

To learn more, contact Brenna Monk at 804-690-4851 or bmonk@chfrichmond.org.