New Surgical Tower Connects Advanced Technology with World-class Surgeons
By Fay Harvey
MIAMI — Nicklaus Children’s Hospital has completed a five-story, 131,000-square-foot surgical tower addition that was first announced in January 2023. The new facility, Griffin Surgical Tower, addresses issues related to aging technology and lack of space.
Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is the region’s only free-standing, licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, according to the project’s contracted Chicago-based architecture firm Perkins&Will, and the new space will allow surgeons to perform more than 16,000 surgeries per year within 12 new operating suites. The building also features 18 inpatient rooms that can be transformed into intensive care unit rooms.
“Today’s grand opening of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital’s Kenneth C. Griffin Surgical Tower marks a historic moment in our 75-year legacy,” said Matthew Love, president and CEO of Nicklaus Children’s Health System, in a statement. “The Griffin Surgical Tower connects advanced technology with world-class surgeons to deliver expert, compassionate care to children and families.”
The tower, which was built on top of the hospital’s emergency room, will be reserved for both planned and emergency procedures including trauma care, reconstructive surgeries, and orthopedic, spine, brain and heart surgeries. The new 800-square-foot operating rooms are double the size of the previous operating rooms and are equipped with the latest surgical technology, including UV lighting that sterilizes tools and surfaces, hypothermic changing technology to stabilize patient body temperature, and intraoperative 2D/3D imaging devices that aid surgeons in implanting hardware during surgery.
Additional tools will support clinician teaching programs at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, which, according to a statement, hosts one of the largest teaching programs in the Southeast region. Operating suites will house intraoperative monitoring and streaming, allowing clinicians to access information while inside the operating room. Modern elements like virtual reality tools and robotics will be available to provide 2D and 3D images for brain and spinal surgeries.
During the design process, Perkins&Will conducted visioning sessions with the hospital’s executive leadership team to understand its guiding principles. These included prioritizing patient safety, ensuring high-quality care, optimizing operational efficiency, enhancing visitor experiences and emphasizing education for students, staff and families. Following these sessions, Perkins&Will hosted workshops with care teams to incorporate best practices into the design, aiming to meet the facility’s goals. According to the Perkins&Will website, these workshops led to significant improvements in areas such as infection protocols, communication systems, registration processes, operational models, room transfer minimization and sterile processing.
The exterior design of the building features a glass-centric aesthetic with floor-to-ceiling windows. The first-floor lobby is surrounded by greenery, mixing natural light and biophilic views to calm patients and visitors.
“It is exciting for the entire organization to see the transformation from two-dimensional plans to the impressive structure on our campus,” said Jose E. Perdomo, senior vice president of administration and special project at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, in a statement to Perkins&Will’s site. “The process that we undertook with our Perkins&Will colleagues in its development and design will ensure that it will be at the forefront of pediatric surgery for many years to come.”