VCU Health Opens 24-Bed, $37 Million Acute Care Unit at Children's Hospital of Richmond

VCU Health opened a 24-bed acute care unit on the 11th floor of the Children's Tower at Children's Hospital of Richmond, a 27,500-square-foot build-out that cost $37 million and brings the pediatric hospital to 235 beds. The health system held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 10, Richmond BizSense reported.

Inside the Children's Tower Build-Out

The new unit is slated to open November 17 and is meant for children with acute or chronic illnesses or injuries as well as pediatric patients recovering from surgery, according to VCU Health spokeswoman Kate Marino. DPR Construction was the project's general contractor and HKS handled the design.

VCU Health is an academic medical center in Richmond, Virginia, operating more than 80 locations statewide with more than 800 physicians across 200 specialties, according to company records. The Children's Tower, a $420 million, 16-story addition completed in spring 2023, included 144,000 square feet of shell space; about 52,000 square feet remain, and Marino said a specific use for the available space has not been identified.

HKS is expanding its Western Health practice leadership with Arthur Brito as Partner and Regional Practice Director and Wael Batal as Vice President and Senior Designer, EIN Presswire reported in October 2026.

Pediatric Demand and Earlier Tower Projects

"CHoR has experienced tremendous growth since the Tower opened in 2023 including a 40% increase in acute care volume in just the first year of operations," VCU President Michael Rao was quoted as saying at the event in a blog post.

The acute care unit is the last of several projects VCU Health announced in 2024 for the tower. A $28 million neonatal intensive care unit opened in January 2026, establishing a 20-bed unit in a 28,000-square-foot space on the fourth floor that complemented the hospital's 40-bed NICU across the street. A cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology lab opened in summer 2024. The three projects completed since the tower opened cost a total of $72.5 million.

VCU Health's Recent Expansion Moves

VCU Health and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Virginia announced a multi-year agreement in July 2026 covering value-based care initiatives and Hospital at Home services, according to akta.pro company records. The same records show VCU Health will transition to out-of-network status for certain Anthem Medicare Advantage plans effective January 1, 2027, excluding D-SNPs.

In April 2026, the VCU Health Pauley Heart Center broke ground on a new outpatient pavilion in Richmond's Diamond District, the records show.

Earlier VCU Health Expansions

In October 2026, VCU Health received state approval to open a CT center in Carytown at 12 N. Thompson St., leasing 2,200 square feet of unused space, Richmond BizSense reported. The facility, estimated to cost over $3 million, will have a single CT scanner and is expected to open in 2028.

VCU Health said on August 24, 2026 that its Hospital at Home program had delivered hospital-level care to more than 1,000 patients in the Richmond region since launching in 2023, Becker's Hospital Review reported.

What Opens Next

The Carytown CT center is expected to open in 2028, and the out-of-network transition for certain Anthem Medicare Advantage plans takes effect January 1, 2027.