Can 600,000 square feet of halls, patient rooms, labs, surgical suites and waiting areas put people at ease when visiting the hospital? It appears the answer is “yes” after a tour of the soon-to-open Orange Regional Medical Center.
The state”™s first new hospital in more than two decades broke ground in 2008 on 61 acres in the town of Wallkill. Sitting above the busy East Main Street traffic, the new six-story facility has a bird”™s-eye view of the landscape ”“ and plenty of natural light within to ease that claustrophobic feeling. “Even our labs will have natural lighting,” said Rob Lee, executive director of marketing and hospital spokesperson, “something the staff doesn”™t enjoy in either of the existing hospitals ”“ they are  below ground level and windowless ”“ so the staff is very excited about the new space waiting for them.”
The designers have created a warm, welcoming and calm atmosphere with muted colors, carpeting in patient hallways and curved lines rather than sharp corners, and with lots of windows to let in natural light. The design is to ease both patients”™ and visitors”™ stress levels. State of the art technology, from wireless communication throughout the hospital, electronic medical records and a pneumatic tube system to transport doctors”™ orders to labs at each nursing station are all part of the new hospital”™s composition. “A lot of thought and planning went into the building”™s design,” Lee said. “When you are working on a project of this size and scope, you plan for the future and you have the ability to bring the best practices into play.
“The goal is not just to deliver excellent service but  to make the building as warm and welcoming as possible, while making it efficient for staff and patients,” said Lee, who spends every day shuttling between Horton and Arden Hill hospitals, which will be closed when the new hospital is completed.
The cost of construction and new equipment, including refinancing the two existing hospitals, is close to $350 million. “Everything in the campus ”“ from beds to furniture to equipment ”“ will be new,” he said. “We are asking both hospitals to hold off on any major new purchases if possible until the new hospital is ready.” ORMC plans to close both campuses and reopen at the new East Main Street location overnight. “No easy task,” Lee said. “In fact, it”™s a monumental one that will include all our staff and two or three moving companies that specialize in these types of relocations.”
The merger of the two hospitals, Arden Hill in Goshen and Horton Hospital in Middletown, took place in 2002 and discussions were ongoing for several years about truly consolidating the two into one space. Both hospitals, built more than 40 years ago, lacked the room to merge both at one site, and the cost to upgrade one existing facility to absorb the staff and services from the other hospital was exorbitant. During the 2008 groundbreaking for the new hospital, President and CEO Scott Batulis said a new building was the way to go.
With kudos from the Berger Commission for its plans to merge the hospitals under one roof, ORMC received a majority of its funding through $261 million in tax exempt bonds issued by the New York State Dormitory Authority, another $48.6 million through a HEAL grant (Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law), proceeds from the sale of the two existing campuses  (currently in a $10 million lease-back agreement through the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan but with interested buyers at the ready) and its $21 million capital campaign, which is ongoing.
The hospital is licensed for 383 beds, but will offer 353 private suites and bank the additional bed allotment if needed for future use. It will also introduce a new Level II neonatal intensive care unit, a first for ORMC, in its Rowley Family Birthing Facility. Like most no-profits, ORMC is asking for donations and naming rooms, suites and sections of the hospital after benefactors. Alan and Sandra Gerry”™s name will be prominently displayed at the hospital”™s entrance, since it was a $10 million grant from the Gerry Foundation and help in getting a lease-back arrangement for the two existing hospitals that made it possible for the construction to move forward.
The emergency room  will have 50 private exam areas with X-ray and CT-scan capabilities on the unit, eliminating the need to transfer ER patients from one part of the hospital to another for tests. With three enclosed bays for ambulances and a heated helipad outside it, “snow and ice aren”™t going to be a problem for us,” Lee said.
A 30-bed mental health unit with an enclosed outside garden will be included in the hospital. “If we have a patient brought in through the ER that needs to be evaluated, they can be brought right up to the unit by a direct elevator,” Lee said. A pediatric mental health unit is not part of the plan, but might be included at some later time. “As of now, the mental health unit will be for 18 years and older.”
The new hospital will have plenty of parking with more than 1,600 spaces, with hundreds of natural plantings surrounding the facility and a “healing garden” with walkways, benches and tables outside the hospital”™s main entrance. Once inside, a spacious reception area, gift shop, coffee shop and chapel will welcome visitors, along with private reception areas for incoming patients to register. Three banks of elevators, two for visitors, the other for patients and staff, Â will keep transporting patients, meals and staff separate.
“It”™s an amazing, exciting process,” he said, “watching the hospital go from an empty lot, to a metal frame then to walls, floors and rooms. Every day when I walk in, something new has been done.” The hospital”™s official “moving day” will take place on a Friday evening at the end of August, and it will be business as usual by the next morning.
What”™s up the road for the new ORMC? “We are always looking ahead,” said Lee, who said the hospital”™s Peter Frommer Heart Center hopes to eventually offer open-heart surgery. “The possibilities are endless ”“ the fact that we have this state-of-the-art hospital, totally wireless and the ability to store all our records electronically, is an amazing addition to what we will be able to offer patients.”
To see a video of the new hospital and all the services it will provide, visit ormc.org
Would you know who the architect/designer is of this new hospital?