Any parent who has a sick child will tell you it impacts the whole family. That's why it was so important when designing and building the Children's Hospital to keep not only the patient in mind, but also their family.

Kamron Clark has been in and out of the hospital since he was just 4 years old. The now 16-year-old is waiting for a new kidney.

Kamron knows all about the old Children's Hospital...

“Boring and the rooms are a lot smaller,” Kamron said.

…and the new one.

“I thought it was cool because we kept waiting for it to get built so it looked really cool, and we were one of the first people to be here,” Kamron said.

And when here becomes a home away from home, having more space is a must.

"The rooms were a lot smaller so when Kamron's friends would visit, not all of us would fit in the rooms,” Terri Clark, Kamron’s mom said.

“It’s more livelier, like there's paintings and stuff all over the wall and the rooms are huge,” Kamron said.

The sleeping arrangements have also been improved and not just for the patient.

“You know it was hard to rest for the parents, now they have a bed that's in the room for the parents too so that's pretty nice,” Terri said.

Those features didn't happen by accident. Sanford asked for the input of a Family Advisory Council---a group of parents whose own children spent time in the old hospital.

"To be able to give our opinions as to things that work in the old hospital and things that didn't work in the old hospital and be able to make the new hospital a better place and more comfortable for both the patient and family was a great opportunity" Pat Sweetman, the chairman of the Family Advisory Council said.

Another feature of the hospital that Sweetman and other members of the advisory council are responsible for are these family centers.

"Lack of some place to kind of visit with family members outside of the room---there wasn't a whole lot of places to go on the floor and still be close to your child and visit with friends and family that have happened to come up and here at the castle they have the family area,” Terri said. She continued, “Still be able to be on the floor yet get a break from you know being inside the room all the time.”

Complete with free snacks, drinks and computer internet access.

Of course there's more to building a Children's Hospital than making families comfortable, it's also critical to make families as comfortable with patient care.

“Each nurse is stationed at the room now---you don't have to go looking for your nurse. They're actually stationed outside the room and there's a window provided so each patient can see their nurse all the time,” Terri said.

“The kids are able to rest and you know rest is such a big part of getting sick and building the body back up,” Sweetman said.

All things you're likely take for granted unless you've been in these shoes.

“It obviously benefited everybody because a lot of things that they've improved on have just made the stay pleasant, I mean as pleasant as it can be,” Terri said.

“I remember how scary it was and anything you can do to make things just a little bit easier helps in a great way,” Sweetman said.

Another thing Terri appreciates at the new hospital---the added security.