Building the Future of LifeScape
Consolidating Services, Expanding Opportunities
By Alex Strauss
On a mild day in 1948, a small group of children - some standing, others in wheelchairs or on crutches - lined up in a field near Sioux Falls to break ground at Crippled Children's Hospital and School. The new organization had been created in response to the recent polio epidemic and was solely devoted to caring for the needs of area children impacted by the disease.
Seventy-six years, and two name changes, later, LifeScape offers a range of medical, therapeutic, and educational services for children with a range of diagnoses that would have been unimaginable in the 1940s.
"The kids that we see today have an average of three diagnoses and some as many as 15," says LifeScape CEO Steve Watkins. "So we went from the singularity of polio to three diagnoses per child. We handled a total of 700 diagnoses last year among just under 4,500 children from 247 communities."
Not only was the current building on 26th Street in Sioux Falls not built for that level of diagnostic complexity, but it was also not designed for that kind of volume. Watkins says more than 500 families are waiting for LifeScape services right now, a number that reflects a nationwide trend.
"The CDC has published that one in six kids is born with a developmental disability and one in 36 is born with autism," says Watkins. "These are silent pandemics creeping through the Midwest, which has also seen exponential population growth."
Building for the Future
After more than a decade of planning, LifeScape broke ground on a $98 million Children's Campus this spring. Situated on 10 acres in the Northwest part of Sioux Falls, the new campus will house a residential intermediate care facility (ICF), an 18-bed specialty pediatric rehabilitation hospital, and a new school for both residential and commuting patients.
Additionally, the campus will feature family meeting areas, conference space, a large gym, a heated therapy pool, and accessible, courtyard-style playgrounds. When all parts of the campus are complete, it will comprise about 240,000 square feet.
"Part of the reason it took as long as it did to get this going is that we wanted to create a facility that would be best-in-class," says Watkins. To that end, he and other campus planners visited top-ranked children's facilities such as Bancroft Children’s Residential Program in New Jersey, Kennedy Krieger Institute in Maryland, and Gillette Children's Hospital and Clinics in Minnesota.
"A big part of our strategy has been to make sure that we were talking to all stakeholders," says Kristin Tuttle, Vice President of Therapy and Medical Services at LifeScape. "We have been careful to get staff and family and provider input and feedback. That has been a big part of this."
The result is a plan that incorporates the very latest technology, efficiencies, and best practices to serve even more children with complex medical or behavioral challenges.
Residential Services - Features of The Intermediate Care Facility
Changes from current dorm-style rooms with as many as six children in a room to primarily pods of six rooms, most of which are private
Increases residential capacity from 60 to 72 beds (eventually will be 96)
Some pods with kitchen and living areas
Offset hallways to reduce line-of-site for kids prone to elopement
Second floor is reserved for kids and teenagers with higher behavioral challenges
Additional spaces outside of the living environment for gross motor activities, movie nights, etc.
Thicker walls and hurricane-type glass through to safely bring in more natural light
Accessible, courtyard-style playgrounds in the middle of the school for greater security
Courtyards designed by PTs and feature musical spaces, art creation space, a water feature, and quieter spaces with benches
Courtyard partially covered for outdoor play, even in inclement weather
Built-in spaces throughout for staff to take breaks, do documentation, etc.
"Safety was a big piece of the design of the ICF, for both staff and children," says Tuttle. "We care for kids of varying abilities. We wanted to make sure that all environments were safe for everyone."
"The goal is best-in-class for everything that we can do and afford," says Watkins. "We reached out to a whole host of university and healthcare partners and peers to really come up with a best-in-class product that this region can be very proud of. We'll be sitting in the top five providers because the providers helped us get there."
Educational Services - Features of The New School
Serves both residents of the ICF and children from the community
Classroom space expanding by about 25% to more easily accommodate children and their caregivers, when necessary
Built-in spaces nursing spaces for nurses who work with children with high medical needs
Additional spaces including an art room, a media room, and a vocational room to work on job tasks or things like laundry and cooking
Assistive technology throughout the building so that children with limited mobility can have more autonomy
Much more natural light than the current building
Therapy spaces near the classrooms for interdisciplinary teams to work together
"Between the hospital and school, we will have expanded therapy spaces, including a pediatric-themed 'Easy Street'," says Tuttle. "We will try to simulate community and home environments. So that might include part of a school bus, or a street or a car. Our goal is to get them back to their home communities and prepare them for their adult life, whether it is to get a job, volunteer, or be successful in their home."
Rehabilitation Services - Features of The Specialty Hospital
State's only post-acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, and medically complex program for children from birth to age 21.
Licensed for 18 beds. New facility will incorporate a few private rooms instead of all doubles
Will be able to accommodate families who need to stay with their child while learning how to care for them
Overhead ceiling lifts in most rooms
24/7 nursing and a line of site from nurses to every room
Spaces for team conversations and meetings
Classroom right on the unit so children do not have to leave to continue education
Technology-enhanced distance learning available
The long-term plans also include a new outpatient facility. Watkins says four acres north of the current build site can accommodate future outpatient growth, if needed.
Finally, the campus will also include a time capsule, built into an artificial hill in one of the playgrounds, and containing contributions from the entire LifeScape community.
"The goal is best in class for everything that we can do and afford," says Watkins. "Given the changes we've seen in the last 70 years, just imagine how things might have progressed 70 years from now."