Stanford children’s hospital in Palo Alto opens new treatment spaces

Stanford Medicine has opened a new outpatient clinic and infusion center at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, adding six new exam rooms and 15 private infusion bays for patients and families.

The Bass Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases outpatient clinic and Infusion Center’s new space allows privacy for all patients during treatment, according to the hospital. For patients undergoing intravenous treatments — which may need to be given regularly for eight hours each time — the private infusion rooms offer a more stress-free environment, the press release states.

“Infusions are a critical part of patients’ treatment plan, so having a space that’s just for them during what can be an all-day appointment can help bring some comfort,” Tanja Gruber, Bass Center director and Stanford Children’s chief of pediatric hematology, oncology and stem cell transplantation, said in a statement. “The patients and families we see are going through a very difficult time emotionally, so it’s important to me that patients have state-of-the-art care in a supportive environment as they are going through this chapter of their lives.”

The infusion rooms also enable better infection control, a critical improvement for immunocompromised patients who are less able to fight infections. The additional exam rooms allow for expanded appointment availability, according to the hospital.

“The young patients who come through the Bass Center and Infusion Center are walking through a very difficult journey,” Paul King, CEO of Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, said in the statement. “We want to ensure the comfort of our patients and families while care teams guide them through these challenges. This new and expanded space is evidence of our unwavering commitment to providing world-class care.”

The renovations come as part of a larger improvement project at the hospital, which has expanded the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and opened a new maternity unit and antepartum unit.

This story originally appeared in Palo Alto Weekly. Grace Gao is an intern for Embarcadero Media.