John R. Oishei Children's Hospital (OCH), sometimes known as simply Oishei Children's is a women's and

children's hospital A children's hospital is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In certain special cases, they may also treat adults. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th ...

in Buffalo, New York, that opened on November 10, 2017, and provides pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults up to age 21, and

maternity services A maternity hospital specializes in caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth. It also provides care for newborn infants, and may act as a centre for clinical training in midwifery and obstetrics. Formerly known as lying-in hospitals, most o ...

for expectant mothers. It is located at the

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) is a medical center of health care, life sciences research and medical education institutions, co-located on in Buffalo, New York. The BNMC was founded in 2001 by a consortium (including the University ...

and has 185 inpatient beds. It is a pediatric facility serving patients in Western New York and parts of

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

. The hospital is one of the only freestanding children's hospitals in New York State. OCH is a teaching hospital affiliated with the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

and is affiliated with the Kaleida Health System. The hospital contains an ACS verified level 1 pediatric trauma center, one of the few in the region. OCH also has a rooftop helipad to transport critically ill patients to and from the hospital. The hospital is named after the John R. Oishei Foundation, which donated $10 million for the development of the hospital.

History

Pediatrics in Buffalo dates back to 1892 when the original Children's Hospital of Buffalo (later renamed to Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo WCHOB) opened on Bryant Street. The push for a new children's hospital in Buffalo dates back to 1999 when plans for a new children's hospital to replace the old Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo were created due to aging facilities and a lack of modern amenities at the old WCHOB. The plans from Kaleida Health included moving the children's hospital to the downtown

to better consolidate their facilities. Residents of Buffalo did not support the planned move and launched a campaign against the movement and Kaleida Health called "save our children's hospital," which included many celebrities from Buffalo including

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

and

Pat LaFontaine Patrick Michael LaFontaine (born February 22, 1965) is an American former ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and spent his entire playing career with the league's New York State-based teams. LaFontaine played for th ...

In 2007 new proposals from Kaleida Health to renovate the hospital at the existing site angered many residents who were concerned that renovations of the hospital would ruin the character of the neighborhood. Kaleida then returned to the original proposal to move the hospital downtown. This renewed proposal met with much less resistance from the general public than their previous attempts. Construction on the hospital started in 2014 at an estimated cost of $350 million, $35 million of which was provided by the

state of New York New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...

and $10 million from the John R. Oishei Foundation. The hospital was built by

Turner Construction Turner Construction is an American construction company with presence in 20 countries. It is a subsidiary of the German company Hochtief. It is the largest domestic contractor in the United States as of 2020, with a revenue of $14.41 billion in ...

and designed by the acclaimed architectural firm,

Shepley Bulfinch Shepley Bulfinch (Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott Inc.) is an international architecture, planning, and interior design firm with offices in Boston, Hartford, Houston, and Phoenix. It is one of the oldest architecture firms in continuous prac ...

. The design included 12 floors and 400,000 square feet of space. On November 10, 2017, 125 patients were moved from the old WCHOB to the new hospital by a team of doctors, nurses, and volunteers. American Medical Response provided the transport services including specialized Critical Care Transport for patients in the multiple Intensive Care Units at the old hospital. In 2020, following the advice of the CDC, the hospital limited the amount of visitors, in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The hospital limited visitors to only 2 parents or guardians for children, and one significant other for pregnant women. Also in the wake of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital added ICU beds and placed NICU patients in the same room as their mother. The hospital also created a plan to host adult patients in the case of a patient surge. Oishei Children's First Floor Elevators

Buffalo Bills quarterback

Josh Allen Josh or Joshua Allen may refer to: * Josh Allen (offensive lineman) (born 1991), former American football player * Josh Allen (quarterback) (born 1996), American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills since 2018 * Josh Allen (defensi ...

has done charity work with Oishei Children's Hospital. On November 8, 2020, Allen led the Bills to a 44–34 upset win over the Seattle Seahawks. After the game, it was revealed that Allen's grandmother, Patricia Allen, had passed away the night before the game. In response, fans of the Buffalo Bills (colloquially known as '

Bills Mafia The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

') began to donate to Oishei Children's Hospital in $17 increments (17 being Allen's jersey number). As of November 17, 2020, the total amount donated had exceeded $650,000. On November 21, 2020, Oishei Children's Hospital announced that they would be naming a new wing on the 10th floor as the "Patricia Allen Pediatric Recovery Wing" to honor the donations received by the Bills fans. In November, 2020 the hospital announced that they had expanded their age limit from 21 to 25 to better handle COVID-19 surge capacity.

Features

The hospital contains an ACS verified level 1 pediatric trauma center, one of the few in the region, and a rooftop helipad to transport critically ill patients to and from the hospital. The hospital has an American Academy of Pediatrics level III neonatal intensive care unit with a capacity of 64 beds for critically ill newborn babies. Overall, the facility has 185 inpatient beds. The new construction includes amenities commonly seen in modern children's hospitals, including an open airy lobby, colorful spaces, playrooms, and places for parents and children to relax.

Awards

During its first two years of operation, OCH was named as a top children's hospital by

The Leapfrog Group A Patient Safety Organization (PSO) is a group, institution, or association that improves medical care by reducing medical errors. Common functions of patient safety organizations are data collection and analysis, reporting, education, funding, ...

, an independent organization dedicated to providing transparency and safety in hospital environments.

Controversy

In 2019 it was revealed that a hospital physician, Dr. Kathryn Bass, made gross surgical mistakes on several patients and did not report them to state or hospital officials. Bass reached a settlement with the state medical board and pleaded no contest and was put on probation.

References

External links