About 600 kids come to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh each year for heart operations.

The demand for care is so great that the Lawrenceville hospital is expanding its Heart Institute to handle the growing number of patients. Many patients travel from outside the state or country.

“This year is the busiest year we’ve ever had,” said Dr. Victor Morell, chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and co-director of the Heart and Vascular Institute at UPMC. “We have more kids coming from more places than ever before.”

UPMC plans to start construction in December on a new Heart Institute that will include clinical space with cardiac catheterization labs, an interoperative MRI, and inpatient and outpatient procedural and diagnostic and consultation spaces.

The project will convert a patio space on the third floor of the hospital into a 50,000-square-foot, 3-story addition. It is expected to open in late 2026.

During an event Tuesday to announce the project, Rachel Petrucelli, president of the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation, said the foundation has committed to raising $31.5 million for the project. It has more than $18.7 million so far, mostly due to two sizeable donations.

Financial technology company Acrisure donated $7.5 million. Another $8 million was a bequest from the estate of David Duchini of New York.

They were the largest donations by a corporation and an individual, respectively.

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