Covenant Children's is
pleased to announce it is
expanding beds to meet
growing pediatric and
neonatal patient needs.
Currently, Covenant
Children's has 212 licensed
beds. This renovation will
add 36 beds, 27 Pediatric
and 9 Neonatal Intensive
Care, for a total of 248 beds
post-renovation.
Covenant Children's is the
region's only freestanding,
licensed children's hospital
between Fort Worth and
Albuquerque.
"Simply put, we're starting
to outgrow the number of
beds we have," Covenant
Children's CEO Dr. Amy
Thompson said. "We can't
and don't want to turn these
patients away. Thankfully,
this expansion will help
prevent that from happening
as often."
Substantial growth of our
patient population over the
past few years is partially
due to the creation of
Kite flight, our emergency
transport program for our
neonatal, pediatric, and
maternal patients. In 2019,
Kite Flight transported just
under 100 patients. In 2024,
it is on track to transport
nearly 900 patients.
Covenant Children's is
investing more than $6.6M
into the renovation. The
hospital was gifted $1 million
from a generous donor to
specifically support a unit
with the ability to cohort
immunocompromised
pediatric patients.
These patients are
especially susceptible to
communicable conditions
such as flu, RSV, etc.
Construction has begun on
the Pediatric bed expansion,
with targeted completion by
end of year 2024. The NICU
expansion is expected to
begin soon, with completion
targeted for mid-2025.
Along with this renovation,
Covenant Children's has
updated its NICU web-
camera system. More than
six years ago, Covenant
Children's was the first
facility to bring this
technology to Lubbock,
allowing families the ability
to see their babies in the
NICU using a camera.
"Our old NICU webcams
have served us well," Dr.
Thompson said. "In a
12-month period, we saw
over 60,000 uses. But
technology has advanced
since we first implemented
NICU webcams in 2018 and
it was time to upgrade our
system. Not to mention, our
new cameras offer a much-
improved experience for a
child's caregivers, as well as
for our staff."
Covenant Children's Invests Millions to
Expand Services on Multiple Units
Community Connection: Covenant Health | 8
