Nemours Children’s Health has announced $430 million in developments and expansions at its Florida and Delaware locations for a combined total of $430 million, including new facilities, improved healthcare accessibility and a state-of-the-art Maternal and Fetal Health Program. Photo Credit: Nemours Children’s Health
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Nemours Children’s Health Announces $430 Million in Projects

HCO News Staff

By Fay Harvey  

ORLANDO, Fla., WILMINGTON, Del. — Nemours Children’s Health (Nemours), one of the nation’s largest multistate pediatric health systems, recently announced investments totaling $430 million in its Florida and Delaware locations. 

As Florida faces an increased need for pediatric services and care, Nemours has announced plans to invest $300 million in its central Florida facilities over the next four years to address high-quality healthcare scarcity. In the state’s central region alone, the pediatric population of 1 million is expected to grow by almost 5% within the next five years.  

Nemours has more than 50 locations in Florida and employs Florida’s largest team of pediatric specialists with a network of more than 70 primary and specialty care practices.    

“This expansion is a critical step in achieving our vision of bringing world-class children’s care to Florida,” said R. Lawrence Moss, president and CEO of Nemours in a statement. “Our journey to become a nationally ranked children’s hospital here will give us the capacity to support even more families regionally, nationally and internationally.” 

The $300 million investment will primarily focus on three new buildings on Nemours’ Florida campus.  

The existing pediatric hospital will receive a 110,000-square-foot expansion, doubling the size of the current emergency department. More space will also be developed for the imaging department and for new inpatient and observation beds. The hospital is slated for a 2028 opening.  

A brand-new 75,000-square-foot facility will be home to an expanded surgery center. Inside, six new operating rooms will reside in addition to a new patient exam room. The state-of-the-art space will house Nemours’ rising orthopedics division, which will include both a new International Center for Limb Lengthening and a Motion Analysis Lab¾the state’s first and only authorized lab. The center is expected to open in 2028.  

Also included in the expansion is a new 75,000-square-foot administrative building with an 800-space parking garage set to be completed in 2027. 

“The health of any community starts with its children, and we intend to play a leading role in creating the healthiest generations of Americans through our multistate pediatric health system,” said Moss. “We’re thrilled that through careful stewardship and commitment, we can make these critical investments across our system to set up patients, families and communities for the best possible health outcomes.” 

However, Florida is not the only state involved in Nemours’ trailblazing investments. 

On Dec. 17, Nemour announced several additional investment plans for Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, Del., in 2025, including a groundbreaking Maternal and Fetal Health Program space, expansion of the existing neonatology, cancer and cardiology programs, and the revitalization of the Alfred I. duPont Campus. The projects are estimated at $130 million, making the projects the largest one-year capital investment in Delaware in the healthcare company’s history.  

A rendering of a new patient room within Nemours’ Delaware Campus. Photo Credit: Nemours

The Advanced Delivery Program at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Wilmington, will improve diagnostics and cutting-edge maternal-fetal therapies through various expansions and advancements. Four new labor and delivery birthing suites are included in the plans alongside eight new antepartum and postpartum rooms. Three dual-purposed operating rooms will also be added for fetal and maternal care. The investments add to Nemours’ goal of becoming the first multi-hospital, multistate children’s health system to provide fetal diagnosis and therapy.  

The Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the state’s only NICU, will expand with the addition of 14 new inpatient rooms, bringing the facility to a 45-bed capacity.  

The 25,000-square-foot Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation Institute for Cancer and Blood Disorders will also open in early 2025. Made possible by a $78 million donation from Dean’s foundation as well as further investment from Nemours, the new facility will feature 24 inpatient beds with a family-focused design. Windows in the patient rooms will overlook outdoor gardens to promote healing and recovery. A 19,000-square-foot outpatient Day Hospital and Infusion Center designed to support clinical trial participation and research in treating children with cancer, sickle cell disease and other blood disorders will also be added. 

The 1940-opened Alfred I. duPont Institute — the Nemours Foundation’s first healthcare institution — will continue to be revitalized into a state-of-the-art administrative building. Renovations will honor the building’s history while prioritizing proximity and connection to clinic spaces in the duPont Pavilion on the Wilmington campus. 

“Nemours has deep roots in Delaware and an enduring commitment to its children and families,” said Mark R. Marcantano, president of Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware Valley, in a statement. “We will continue working with our partners in state and local government, school districts, academic institutions and community organizations to go well beyond medicine for Delaware’s kids.”