Eight years ago, the administrators at USA Health received a jarring report and received poor marks for pediatric health care in coastal Alabama.

It wasn’t happy reading, but the analysis provided a crucial roadmap in 2016 that led to Wednesday’s dedication of a $19 million expansion project that more than doubles the size of the pediatric emergency center at USA’s Children’s & Women’s Hospital in Mobile.

“It was really the catalyst that sped this along,” said Dr. Edward Panacek, USA Health’s chair of emergency medicine, said about the report that included a “long laundry list” of suggestions to better improve pediatric health care in Mobile, including a state-of-the-art facility.

The dedication of the new and improved emergency center drew a large crowd of USA Health employees and administrators, politicians, dignitaries, and children who have received care at the hospital. More than 40,000 patients visit the pediatric emergency department annually.

“We’ve had an incredible ER team for years, and now we have an incredible facility for them,” said Owen Bailey, CEO with USA Health and senior associate vice president for medical affairs.

The expansion more than doubles the size of the facility from 9,000 square feet to nearly 19,000 square feet. The new facility also increases the number of treatment areas from 14 to 30, including 25 private exam rooms.

The expansion also provides more space for parents and caregivers to be with their children. A new sensory room was also added to support children with multiple sensory needs. The center also includes two behavioral health rooms and a private space dedicated to pediatric sexual assault patients.

“We know that our children are not little adults,” said Debbie Browning, CEO of the hospital that has been in operation since the 1990s at its current location that was once the former Doctors Hospital. “This new center was designed to better meet the needs of all children who come through our doors.”

USA Health, the health system of the University of South Alabama, broke ground on the project in the fall of 2021. USA Health raised $14.2 million through donations and $1 million from a state appropriation to help finance the project.

“It’s more than an expansion, it’s a commitment to our children and ensures they have access to top tier medical care at a state-of-the-art facility,” said Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey. “This is more than a building. It’s a promise to our children, their families and the future of quality health care in this state.”

Panacek said that USA Health’s focus on pediatric care includes adding certified professionals focused on children, and that there are now six certified qualified pediatric emergency medicine physicians in Mobile.

He said back in 2017, there were none. Alabama, itself, has ranked dead last in the nation in having the lowest the number of qualified emergency physicians per capita.

USA Health also has established a residency program and has plans to expand it. By doing so, Panacek said, the hospital hopes to play a role in adding emergency physicians in the state and to chip away at the low ranking.

“We kind of feel like we’ve delivered on the main promises we made to transform emergency medical care for this region,” he said.

The dedication of the new emergency center, which will not officially open until February, comes about a month after USA officials broke ground on a new $200 million medical school building at the university’s main campus in west Mobile. The new school building is eventually expected to boost the number of medical school students in Alabama and serve as a potential feeder system for rural communities suffering from a shortage of health care professionals.

Some of those students could be moving to the short distance to the new pediatric ER.

Said Panacek, “In 2021, we were talking in the parking lot about the need for this. Now this is the most advanced pediatric emergency care facility in Alabama, and perhaps in Mississippi and other surrounding states. This is state-of-the-art, and you should all be proud of it.”