Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Expansion

The Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Florida recently underwent a 156,000 square-foot expansion adding four floors to the existing 4-story hospital. This hospital is part of the larger Memorial Healthcare System, which is home to the first Joe DiMaggio children's hospital built in 1992 and was the first pediatric hospital in Broward county. The recent expansion will keep the hospital's theme, Power of Play and the new floors are themed as: Imagine, Rhythm, Adventure, and Grow. 

Joe DiMaggio, a Hall of Fame baseball player who spent his entire 13-year career with the New York Yankees in the 1940s, is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time. DiMaggio won 9 World Series Championships and has his No. 5 jersey retired with the Yankees. Joe said that having his name on the pediatric hospital meant more to him than being elected to baseball's Hall of Fame. With his foundation, he made it clear that with all of his support, "No child will ever be turned away because of inability to pay."

The hospital manages more than 375,000 patient encounters annually. Its service area has stretched considerably with patients seeking care from across the United States and the Caribbean. To meet the continuous demand for specialized care, the $166 million expansion was a necessity. "Innovation through technology, strategic partnerships, and growth of our building and medical teams is imperative to meet our goal of providing high quality patient care in the safest environment possible," says Ronald Ford, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.

Nearly 1/3 of the investment for the children's hospital expansion was generated through community philanthropy, "Catch the Love," a capital campaign by the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Foundation. Other foundations include: a campaign aided by NHL star Aleksander Barov of the Florida Panthers, country music icon Garth Brooks, and the Finker-Frenkel Family Foundation.

VT’S CONTRIBUTION:
VT Industries manufactured 500 InPro Palladium Rigid Vinyl Doors with a fixed edge to the expansion project. A majority of the doors on the project featured Sugar Maple 0548 rigid vinyl faces. This pattern was selected to closely match the existing wood doors throughout the building and to perfectly match the InPro handrails and wall protection specified for the project. A secondary rigid vinyl, Smoked Stratus 5E031, was also incorporated into the project in several key areas.

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