Neighbors should embrace Children's growing mission

Nothing brings parents greater pain than knowing their children's health is threatened. And nothing brings greater relief than knowing their child will receive the best possible medical care, no matter how serious the diagnosis.

From its Laurelhurst campus in Seattle, Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center provides cutting-edge care to seriously ill children throughout our city, region and state. We take comfort in knowing that Children's is there. Whether for a broken bone or a life-threatening disease, we know that our children can get the care they need, and for this we are thankful.

Children's now needs to grow and expand in order to accommodate the increasing numbers of seriously ill children. We support that expansion in our Laurelhurst neighborhood

You may ask why we support the expansion since it is in our own backyard. We support it because it is needed to treat the most seriously ill children in our region: children with cystic fibrosis; those born prematurely or with heart defects or craniofacial disorders; children with cancer.

More than two-thirds of Children's patients suffer from chronic conditions or other serious medical problems. Children's needs to keep treatment of these serious illnesses and conditions centered at the Laurelhurst campus, rather than dispersing care (and physicians) among multiple facilities. The location needs to be near the University of Washington School of Medicine, since many of the physicians are also based there.

According to Children's projections, several hundred new beds will be needed on the Laurelhurst campus over the next 20 years. The overall need for Children's services is expected to grow substantially in the coming decades. New medical technologies will require more space.

Given the scope of the expansion, many of our neighbors reasonably ask: Wouldn't it be best for Children's to just pack up and move, or at least create a new, separate campus to accommodate this growth?

The reality is that even if a large replacement site for Children's could be located, the projected additional costs of a new site could exceed $1 billion. Spending an extra billion to move from Laurelhurst simply can't be justified when those funds could be used to treat children with cystic fibrosis, diabetes, congenital defects, cancer or other diseases.

We appreciate the efforts of the hospital to quickly respond to issues raised by Laurelhurst residents. Notably, Children's recently proposed to reduce building height from 240 feet to 160 feet.

Children's Hospital needs to grow in order to care for our region's sickest children. As neighbors, we need to help Children's grow, and be thankful that it's in our own backyard.