White Plains Hospital Center could look to add more than 200,000 square feet to its existing campus, its president and CEO Jon Schandler said last week.
Schandler spoke of the hospital”™s master plan and possible future expansions at a meeting of the White Plains Rotary Club.
Schandler began his remarks about the hospital”™s master plan by saying the details are very preliminary as of now and could be further modified or expanded.
“This hasn”™t even been approved by our board of directors yet,” Schandler said.
He said among the general future goals of the hospital are modifying the current facility, moving more services and departments offsite, and expanding the facility on its existing site.
That could be difficult, he admitted, considering the “very restrained site” the hospital center currently sits on.
“We don”™t have that much room,” he said.
Among the additions the hospital center is considering: expanding the operating room and emergency room (ER), building a cardiac cath lab, adding a physicians lounge and expanding parking.
Schandler said ideally the hospital could add 93,000 square feet to its existing facility in the first five years of the master plans, and another 110,000 square feet in years six through 10.
Other ideas the hospital administrator discussed were creating a new central lobby and entrance to the hospital on Maple Avenue and increasing the percentage of single rooms in the 292-bed hospital.
The hospital is currently constructing a new emergency department, which is expected to be completed by early 2009.
He said White Plains Hospital Center”™s emergency room is the busiest in the county with about 47,000 visits expected this year.
The construction will double the size of the hospital”™s ER, he said.
Schandler thanked the Rotary Club and the White Plains community in general for its generous giving to the hospital, which raised $35 million during its recent capital campaign.
Schandler also spent a portion of the talk discussing the dire state of the U.S. health-care system.
He said the Medicare trust fund is projected to be bankrupt by 2019.
Schandler also said the cost of prescription drugs rises about 20 percent each year and malpractice insurance has risen 175 percent since 2000; all while insurance companies continue to see rising profits.
Schandler said he believed no one solution from either major political party would solve the health-care problems in this country.
“I think we need a bi-partisan, independent commission to study this and provide real solutions for health care,” he said.
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