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Building for kids

Milwaukee Campus Improvement Project
Children's Wisconsin has kicked off a multi-year, $385 million facilities improvement project that will support our vision of having Wisconsin children be the healthiest in the nation.
The project is designed to enhance clinical collaboration and efficiencies, improve the child and family experience, and support the use of new technologies. It includes:
- Opening late 2023 – New and expanded Emergency Department and Level I Trauma Center
- Now open – Craig Yabuki Tower, a six-story, 237,000-square-foot addition to house specialty clinics and Surgical Services
- Complete -- Renovation and expansion of Surgical Services
Our partners on the project are The Boldt Company and CannonDesign.
Emergency Department
Children's Emergency Department and Level I Trauma Center will be expanded and moved to the front of the hospital to improve access, the child and family experience and care.
When completed, it will expand from 34 to 48 treatment rooms, including two rooms dedicated to mental and behavioral health needs and two state-of-the-art trauma and resuscitation rooms. Additional space will support advanced imaging capabilities.
Project timeline
- Site preparation began – spring 2021
- Construction begins – early 2022
- Construction complete – late 2023
- The Emergency Department will remain fully operational throughout construction
Craig Yabuki Tower
The Craig Yabuki Tower is located between the north side of the hospital and Children's Clinics Building. The first floor features space dedicated to Child Life, food service and outpatient lab. Patient families helped design the new spaces to support our focus on the child and family experience.
Surgical Services
Children's Surgical Services is now located on one floor, an improvement from our previous design, which was located on two different floors in part of the hospital built in 1988.
This space increased by more than 25,000 square feet and now includes 15 operating rooms, two cardiac catheterization labs and three special procedure rooms. The average size of an operating room also increased to accommodate future advancements in surgical technologies.
Take a tour of our new surgical area
Coming to campus?
The new skywalk is open. Use level three of the parking structure to enter our building. The main entrance to Craig Yabuki Tower is also open.
News
Children’s Wisconsin to move and expand Emergency Department.
Children's picture book
Download your free version of Building for Kids - A Children's Wisconsin picture book.
Architectural renderings
See architectural renderings of the Milwaukee Campus Improvement Project.