Vanderbilt buys sites to expand children's hospital

Nashville-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center has moved a step closer to expanding the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital, buying out the owners of a neighboring fast-food restaurant. The transactions will give the medical center the land it needs to build a $244 million expansion. The project will nearly double the hospital's capacity by adding 200 new beds, 16 labor and delivery rooms, 13 obstetric and pediatric operating rooms and 48 antepartum and postpartum rooms.