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Largest Hospital Expansion Between NYC and Albany is on Schedule
Construction at Hudson Valley Hospital Center is right on schedule, and by mid-April, a temporary main entrance and additions to the Emergency Department will open. By the time the $100 million-plus building project is completed in 2010, 23,000 square feet will have been renovated and 110,000-square feet added to the hospital center that serves Westchester, Putnam and Orange counties.
"It is the largest hospital expansion going on between New York City and Albany," says John C. Federspiel, HVHC president and CEO. "We have begun transforming Hudson Valley Hospital Center into a new breed of hospital. We already have a reputation for being high-touch, high-tech, but when this multi-million dollar addition is completed, we will have the most modern facility in every aspect of care: architecturally, aesthetically, and medically, including state-ofthe art diagnostic equipment."
The overall project is fivepronged, beginning with the two-story addition expanding the present emergency department and creating a temporary main hospital entrance during construction. Other phases:
- This week, work began on a new Surgery Center in the back of the hospital, to build two new state-of-the-art operating rooms, and a new recovery suite.
- Once the temporary main entrance opens in mid-April, work will begin on the fourstory Patient Tower, which will be built in front of the Hospital and be comprised entirely of private rooms and an expanded emergency department.
- Construction will begin this March on four additional rooms for the Intensive Care/Progressive Care Unit.
- A multi-level parking garage will be constructed in 2009 providing a total of 450 parking spaces on campus.
The West Wing
A two-story 8,000-squarefoot addition, dubbed the "West Wing" by the hospital staff, is the all-important first phase because it will house the temporary main hospital entrance until all construction is completed in 2010. The second floor will expand the current Emergency Department, and will feature two additional treatment areas, offices, a family waiting room, nursing station and conference room. Future plans also call for a state-of-the-art wound care center, located on the first floor.
Progressive Care Unit
Four new Progressive Care Unit rooms will be added to the roof of the existing building, expanding the present Critical Care/Progressive Care unit space. Progressive Care is an intermediate step, used after critical surgery, during trauma, or critical illness, when patients require additional medical supervision before they can move from Intensive Care to a regular room. This phase is scheduled to open in October, 2008.
Surgery Center
Construction has begun on the North Wing, the new Surgery Center at the rear of the hospital, with its own entrance. Included in the plans are two new specialty operating rooms that are 50 percent larger than typical operating rooms, affording space for new technology such as robotic surgery. And the traditional windowless recovery room will be replaced with a post anesthesia care unit, in which every patient can see the outdoors from their beds. The view: Lush woods on Hudson Valley Hospital Center's 12-acre campus. Included in this section is a new rehabilitation therapy suite. The Surgery Center is scheduled for completion in spring, 2009.
First impression/ New Patient Tower
Construction begins in April on the project's cornerstone, a four-story Patient Tower positioned in front of the existing entrance. The hospital's main entrance, lobby and coffee shop and groupings of comfortable seating will occupy the first floor, along with an expanded Emergency Department. "With the volume increase we have experienced in our No-Wait- ER, we are doubling the number of treatment rooms, bringing the total to 33," explains Dr. Ron Nutovits, director of the Emergency Department. The top three floors will house 84 private patient rooms. Plans call for more natural light, better views to the outside, and a soft, calming color scheme, which benefits patients, families and staff. As John Federspiel, Hospital president describes it: "Upon entering the first floor, one will experience a hotel-like atmosphere, where a unique design will complement the wonderful caring of our hospital staff, creating a life-affirming environment for healing." This final phase should be completed in 2010.
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