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Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus Invites Community Children to Share Their Dreams

Dream Tree initiative launched to celebrate topping out of new West Campus facility

HOUSTON – (May 15, 2009) – The dream of building a pediatric community hospital in West Houston to help children live happy and healthy lives is coming true for Texas Children’s Hospital. Now, area children are invited to share their dreams with Texas Children’s. To celebrate an important construction milestone, the hospital is collecting dreams that area children wish for themselves, their family or friends.

A colorful ribbon representing each child’s dream will be tied to the “Dream Tree,” a loblolly pine, which will be raised to the top of the West Campus building in early July. In a construction tradition, a tree is raised to the building’s highest point during the topping out, a ceremony held when the overall structure of the building is complete.

Six lucky children will be selected in a random drawing from all dream submissions to participate in the topping out ceremony and help elevate the Dream Tree. After the ceremony, the Dream Tree will be planted on the grounds of the West Campus, in line with design plans that include park-like settings, water features and other elements to promote a serene, natural healing environment.

When fully completed in winter 2010, the West Campus, Houston’s only community hospital designed and built exclusively for children, will be among the nation’s largest suburban pediatric hospitals and will serve one of the country’s fastest growing child populations. The topping out ceremony is scheduled for late June.

“We are excited to build a hospital for the community’s children,” said Michelle Riley-Brown, assistant vice president, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. “Soon, we will be topping out our hospital, but more importantly, we’ll be closer to completing a medical facility that will provide an innovative healing environment for the children and families we serve in West Houston.”

Beginning May 21, children in the greater West Houston community are invited to submit their dreams in one of two ways. Parents can submit their child’s dream online by visiting www.westcampus.texaschildrens.org or completing an official Dream tree submission form at any of the five West Houston area YMCA locations. The deadline to submit dreams is June 30. Many of the dreams will be displayed on the Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus web page and a wide selection will appear in a commemorative print advertisement in mid July.

“We’re very excited to have reached this point in our construction,” added Riley-Brown. “It’s very important for us to involve the community’s children in this ceremony for a hospital that is being built to benefit all children in the West Houston area.”

Located on 55 acres at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Barker Cypress, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus is designed to incorporate the best practices in pediatric treatment environments and to provide the special accommodations that families need in a children’s medical facility. Staffed and equipped exclusively to treat patients from birth to 18 years of age, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus will provide both outpatient and inpatient services, and offer the only dedicated pediatric emergency center in greater West Houston. The medical campus will be built in phases, totaling 534,000 square feet. The outpatient clinic building and the inpatient facility are scheduled to open in 2010. For more information, visit westcampus.texaschildrens.org.

Texas Children’s Hospital is among the largest pediatric hospitals in the country and is dedicated to serving children and families through excellence in patient care, education and research. The hospital’s new West Campus development is made possible in large part through the generous support of corporations and families in the local community who are committed to improving the health and well-being of its children.

About Texas Children’s Hospital
Texas Children's Hospital is committed to a community of healthy children by providing the finest pediatric patient care, education and research. Renowned worldwide for its expertise and breakthrough developments in clinical care and research, Texas Children’s is ranked in the top ten best children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. Texas Children’s also operates the nation’s largest primary pediatric care network, with over 40 offices throughout the greater Houston community. Texas Children’s has embarked on a $1.5 billion expansion, Vision 2010, which includes a neurological research institute, a comprehensive obstetrics facility focusing on high-risk births and a community hospital in suburban West Houston. For more information on Texas Children's Hospital, visit www.texaschildrens.org.