Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital: Pediatric Care & Info

Mary Bridge spent decades sharing inpatient space with MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital. The 2026 opening returned Mary Bridge to a standalone children’s-hospital model, with clinical spaces designed specifically around infants, children, teenagers and their caregivers.

What is inside the new hospital?

• 82 licensed pediatric inpatient beds
• Pediatric medical-surgical care
• Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
• 24-hour pediatric Emergency Department
• 29 emergency exam rooms
• 10-bay treatment-in-process / results waiting area
• Dedicated ambulance bay
• Four behavioral-health reduced-risk emergency rooms
• Eight pediatric operating rooms
• Hybrid cardiac catheterization / interventional radiology suite
• Dedicated pediatric imaging
• Infusion services
• Endoscopy
• Laboratory services
• Pharmacy services
• Rooftop helipad / critical transport capability
• Three patient play and activity rooms
• Outdoor garden space
• Therapy gym
• Kite Café bistro and coffee service
• Dedicated 400-space patient and visitor parking garage

What makes the new pediatric ER different?

The new emergency department was designed specifically for children rather than sharing adult emergency space. Published facility information describes:

• 29 pediatric emergency exam rooms
• 10 treatment-in-process / results waiting bays
• A dedicated ambulance bay
• Four behavioral-health reduced-risk rooms
• Pediatric imaging access
• Rapid access to pediatric surgery and intensive care when required
• Critical-care transport by ground, fixed-wing and rotor-wing teams

Pediatric trauma care

Mary Bridge Children’s is a Washington state-designated Level II Pediatric Trauma Center and is a major pediatric referral resource for Southwest Washington and the South Sound.

Examples of specialists currently associated with Mary Bridge care

Pediatric critical-care physicians

Current pediatric critical-care listings associated with Mary Bridge include physicians such as:

• Alan Gatward, MD
• Katie Gregersen, DO
• Ashley Jones, MD
• Hatai Kraushaar, MD
• Liliana Lupu, MD
• Tito Monge, MD
• Matthew Timlin, DO
• John Whitt, MD

These clinicians provide pediatric critical-care coverage rather than ordinary scheduled primary-care appointments. PICU physician coverage rotates according to inpatient needs, so families should ask the bedside nurse which attending physician is responsible for the child’s care that day.

How to get a useful price estimate

Current Mary Bridge recruitment and program information describes a 70-bed Level IV NICU in partnership with MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital. The NICU has historically been located on the Tacoma General campus.

The highest-level neonatal program supports extremely premature and medically complex newborns and works with Mary Bridge pediatric subspecialists when children need additional cardiology, surgery, neurology, respiratory or other specialty care.

Hospital services also include laboratory, endoscopy, infusion and pharmacy capabilities. Exact pharmacy and laboratory public-access hours should be confirmed for the service your child needs because inpatient departments, outpatient collection services and specialty clinics can operate on different schedules.

The hospital’s new emergency design includes four behavioral-health reduced-risk rooms for children who require emergency evaluation in a safer physical environment.

Mary Bridge’s broader pediatric network also provides psychology, psychiatry, neurodevelopmental and behavioral-health services. Outpatient developmental-behavioral referrals may require review before an appointment is offered.

The new hospital was designed with a clearer patient journey than the former shared-hospital arrangement. Published information describes a dedicated patient/visitor garage and an easy-to-identify hospital entrance.

Which parking area should you use?

Current hospital address:
MultiCare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital
305 S. L Street
Tacoma, WA 98405
Phone: 253-403-1400

Public transportation

The hospital district is accessible from Tacoma’s public-transit network, including the Tacoma Link/T Line corridor. Families relying on transit should check the current Sound Transit schedule and closest active stop before leaving because service patterns can change.

All inpatient rooms in the new facility are private and include family-oriented space. Published opening information specifically describes rooms that allow a parent or caregiver to remain with the child, including overnight accommodation space.

Before family members visit

• Ask the bedside nurse how many visitors are permitted in your child’s unit.
• Confirm whether siblings may visit.
• Ask about respiratory-virus or isolation restrictions.
• Confirm PICU, oncology and other high-risk unit rules separately.
• Bring photo identification if requested at hospital check-in.
• Do not visit when ill with contagious symptoms.

Published opening materials confirm the café but do not provide a stable universal daily schedule that should be treated as permanent. Check the posted hospital schedule when you arrive, especially on weekends and holidays.

Gift shop

The Mary Bridge Brigade currently lists a gift shop at the adjacent Mary Bridge Children’s Health Center, 311 S. L Street. The listed gift-shop contact is 253-403-1488. Confirm its current location and hours before making a special trip because campus retail arrangements can change after the 2026 hospital opening.

Minor-record privacy

Washington law gives minors additional privacy rights for certain types of care. MultiCare’s authorization materials explain that a minor patient’s own signature may be required for some records involving reproductive health, sexually transmitted infections, substance-use treatment or outpatient mental-health services depending on the child’s age and the type of care.

Ways to pay

• Through MyChart
• Online Guest Pay when available
• By phone
• By mail using the payment coupon on the statement
• Payment-plan options when eligible

Why you may receive several bills

A complex pediatric visit can involve hospital services plus professional services. For example, emergency physicians, radiologists, anesthesiologists, surgeons or other specialists may bill separately depending on their billing arrangement.

Current MultiCare financial-assistance materials state that after financial assessment, qualifying patients with family income at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines may receive a 100% reduction of eligible charges.

Families with income between approximately 301% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines may qualify for a partial reduction under the current sliding-scale structure.

How to submit a MultiCare financial-assistance application

MultiCare’s published application materials say a Social Security number is not required to apply. Families generally need to provide household-size and income information plus income documentation.

MultiCare says applicants are notified of the financial-assistance decision and appeal rights after a complete application and required documentation have been received.

Before a scheduled specialty visit

1. Call the number on the insurance card.
2. Confirm Mary Bridge / MultiCare is in network for the exact plan.
3. Confirm the individual pediatric specialist is also in network.
4. Ask whether a PCP referral is required.
5. Ask whether prior authorization is required.
6. Ask about deductible, specialist copay and coinsurance.

Current MultiCare policy states that patients, companions and visitors should be informed that qualified language-interpreter and appropriate communication-assistance services are available without charge.

Current Mary Bridge staffing materials also describe in-person and virtual interpreter services with coverage across daytime, evening, night and weekend care.

Ask for help if your family needs:

• Spoken-language interpretation
• American Sign Language / qualified sign-language interpretation
• Video interpretation
• Communication assistance for hearing loss
• Communication assistance for vision loss
• Other reasonable auxiliary aids

Services available at the new approximately 16,000-square-foot pediatric therapy center include:

• Pediatric physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Speech therapy
• Feeding therapy
• Audiology
• In-house orthotics and prosthetics