The University Hospital will soon begin a series of long-planned renovations and construction projects, including the continued construction of the Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center and the addition of 72 private rooms to the hospital, Chief of Environmental Care Tom Harkins said.
The hospital also is planning for a new pediatric outpatient facility, as well as a bridge over Lee Street connecting the hospital to the new cancer center, which will serve as an outpatient clinical cancer facility, Harkins said.
He noted that a significant number of renovations will take place inside the main University Hospital building, including the refurbishment of all patient rooms, a major renovation to the radiology suite and the construction of new operating rooms and nine new procedure rooms for interventional cardiology.
The expansions are in response to the growing demands for healthcare, Harkins said.
“The need for beds is a critical need,” said Luis Carrazana, University architect for research and clinical programs. He said the hospital now has many days when it is at capacity.
“Literally all the beds in the hospital are full and that happens more often then we would like,” Carrazana said.
The expansion includes the addition of a nursing unit and single-patient beds per floor, Carrazana said. The beds will be multiple acuity, meaning they can shift from a standard bed to an acute care bed.
New technology is another driving force behind the expansions.
The University Hospital is more than 20 years old, which is about the lifespan of a hospital system, Carrazana said.
As new equipment becomes available, the hospital needs to ensure it has the latest technology available for its patients, Harkins said. The hospital will need differently sized rooms and different mechanical systems to support the equipment, he said.
A budget of $500 million was allocated for all the projects, Harkins said.
He added that the Emily Couric Cancer Center will be completed next year and that the hospital bed expansion will be complete by the end of 2011. The pediatric outpatient facility will be completed in 2013.
Construction of the cancer center is currently underway.
“It’s a state of the art cancer center,” Carrazana said. “People come from all over the state to get treatment here.”
The benefits of the expansion therefore are not limited to the local area, Carranza said.
“It will give us the opportunity to see more patients who are members of community and provide absolute state-of-the-art care in the hospital,” Harkins said.
—Kate Colwell contributed to this article.
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