St. David's HealthCare is launching a pediatric program to offer emergency, inpatient and intensive care services for children at its North Austin medical center, St. David's announced Sept. 11.

The program will have a dedicated pediatric unit located inside of St. David's North Austin Medical Center at 12221 N. MoPac and is expected to open by December. The program will have 10 beds in its emergency department, eight beds in the inpatient medical surgical unit and six beds in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Renovations for the pediatric wing began within existing space at St. David's North Austin Medical Center in March and upon completion will serve children from birth to age 17, said Misty Rowlison, nursing director of St. David's HealthCare's pediatric program. The facility is designed to be inviting for children and their families and will have an underwater bubble theme, she said.

"We want our equipment to look like things they want to play with," Rowlison said.

The 35,000-square-foot facility was previously used as office and labor delivery space. Once renovations are completed, the wing will have physician sleep rooms and designated space for continued education for staff, Rowlison said.

St. David's expects to hire about 60 employees by Nov. 3. A St. David's career fair will take place 7 a.m.–7:30 p.m. Sept. 23–24 at the Norris Conference Centers, 2525 W. Anderson Lane, Ste. 365. Attendees should be prepared to be interviewed for positions and are asked to RSVP by calling nurse recruitment at 512-544-0133.

In September 2013, St. David's announced a $36 million expansion to its women's center, adding 20 beds to its neonatal intensive care unit and 18 beds to the antepartum unit. Allen Harrison, St. David's North Austin Medical Center CEO, said this is the first time staff will be able to take care of NICU patients as they grow up should they need medical care.

"Probably the thing I am most excited about is the continuity of care for our NICU babies," Harrison said. "Once they are discharged from the hospital, if they need to come back ... they cannot come back here right now. We form such a close relationship with those NICU families. I'm excited that they will be able to continue to receive care here and not have to start over with a brand new organization somewhere else."