Mount Pleasant Magazine Nov/Dec 2019

44 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.BestOfMP.com | www.ReadMPM.com feature does not just serve local families, it is for families from all over the state and Southeast.” What makes this hospital different than most other children’s hospitals in the country is the team of people that came together to make it happen. Sure, they had a well-renowned lead architect, Perkins+Will, but it wasn’t the architects that planned the layout. It was medical professionals, clinicians and family members of the children who have been treated at the current MUSC children’s and women’s hospital. These teams met with the architects for 18 months before ground breaking took place. The result? Probably the safest, most sensitive and thoughtful hospital in the country. Construction workers were even part of the process. Dr. Scheurer said that they knew what the building was going to be and took great pride in their work. More than 4,000 of them will have been involved in the building process in some way when all is said and done. “Many of them told us that they had a connection of some sort to the MUSC children’s hospital,” he explained. “Either they had been cared for there in the past or had a child who was. It has been amazing to hear these stories.” And “stories” there are plenty of. While clearing the space for the Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital, work crews found cypress pilings that had supported the city’s old County Hospital. Justin Herrington, who owns Born Again Heartwoods in Meggett, was hired by MUSC to reclaim the found wood. They would use the wood as beams in the entryway that leads to the outdoor playground and as arches in the lobby. Little did they know that Herrington actually had a personal past with the MUSC children’s hospital. Herrington was accidentally shot in the leg at age 14. It was the doctors at the MUSC children’s hospital that saved him and his leg about 25 years ago after undergoing nearly a dozen surgeries and spending an extended period of time in the hospital. And then there is the story of the mother who lost her critically ill infant and said she would have given anything to have a half-hour alone with her baby. Dr. Scheurer said that they were going to build about four open bays for critically ill babies and that the team of doctors planning this all felt it was the best care model. “After we received that mother’s letter stating that she would have given anything for that time alone with her baby, we put a halt on those plans for open bays and there was no question that private rooms were the best way to go,” he said empathetically. And then there’s the mother who has a child with a heart condition. She is on the planning committee for the menu in the cafeteria. She wants there to be options for people who are on strict and unique diets. That leads to the reason why the cafeteria is on the seventh floor. Dr. Scheurer said that most hospitals have the cafeteria on the first floor. “It takes longer to get down there, which keeps parents or other loved ones away from their child for just that much longer. This way, they don’t have to go far. It is in the middle of the hospital. They won’t be far away from their kids to get a bite to eat.” Each floor was thought out in great detail. The 10th floor will house the most critically ill children who are there for longer periods of time. “They’ll have the best views in the hospital. They deserve it,” Dr. Scheurer said. Photo by Tonya McGue.