When Arden Hill and Horton Hospital merged and became Orange Regional Medical Center in 2002, it was the first of many steps administrators took to consolidate services. Today, passers-by on East Main Street in the town of Wallkill have an unobstructed view of the first new hospital being built in the state in three decades taking shape.
The construction and ultimate outcome ”“ a new hospital facility for the state”™s fastest-growing county ”“Â is the culmination of multiple efforts to merge both hospitals not just in name only, but under the same roof.
When completed in spring of 2011, the $355 million facility will offer 354 private hospital rooms, each with its own bathroom and shower, within the 600,000-square-foot building. “The goal is to keep infection to a minimum, as well as ensure patient privacy,” said Wayne Becker, vice president of new projects.
Becker, who began his career as a pharmacist 34 years ago at Horton Hospital and eventually rose to become ORMC”™s chief operating officer, is now mixing the best possible medical practices and his mathematical expertise to bring the facility on budget and on time.
The two existing hospitals, bought through a lease-back agreement to get construction started, will close when the new ORMC facility is ready to open. The new facility will offer all the services its two hospitals currently provide as well as a wider range of treatment options for both tertiary care and outpatient procedures due to the size and design of the new hospital.
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ORMC is working to get Level II trauma accreditation.
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The construction allows architects to plan for future expansion and to make some needed technological and quality of life changes for both patients and staff that were too costly in the old hospital buildings it will replace: a bank of 12 elevators serving patients, visitors and staff separately; a separate administration building; an intensive care unit with 40 beds, 40 percent more than currently exist at both hospitals, and designed in pods comprised of ten beds each to allow them to “function separately or together, as needed,” Becker said.
The new ER will have 50 private, treatment rooms with its own diagnostic imaging center, as well as a heliport.
“We are currently in the process of applying for Level II trauma center status,” said Becker, “so patients will not just be leaving to go to other hospitals but will be brought here for care. We have also applied for a 10-bed neonatal intensive care unit and are waiting for approval for both.” Additionally, it will offer a 30-bed in-patient psychiatric wing with access to a secure outdoor recreation area, an option not possible at Arden Hill, offering an opportunity for those in-patient psychiatric patients to access the outside, “which we feel is critical to their overall well-being and recovery,” Becker said.
Another feature will be a pneumatic tube system that will run throughout its seven floors. “It will have 27 stations throughout the hospital, where records or medications can be instantly transported where they are needed, rather than having staff running from floor to floor””the system will allow them immediate access and allowing more bedside care for patients,” said Becker. Wireless technology throughout the building will add to its ability to better serve patients and staff.
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Wayne Becker oversees construction of the state”™s first new hospital in three decades.
ORMC is looking to Westchester Medical Center as a model: “Eventually, we hope to become the Hudson Valley”™s teaching hospital,” President and CEO Scott Batulis said in an earlier interview. Becker reiterated that goal, saying the new hospital will work to become a teaching facility and provide innovative medical technology in the Hudson Valley.
ORMC”™s Crystal Run Medical Pavilion will remain open after the hospital is ready for patients. As Crystal Run Road/East Main Street take shape, a new “medical mile” is growing with the new hospital as the centerpiece.
Outside the hospital, $800,000 in road improvements are being made in conjunction with the town of Wallkill. Becker said the state Department of Transportation is working on Exit 122 on Interstate 84 to bring it up to standards in time for the hospital”™s opening. “We”™re in a unique position to serve the community, because we are at the intersection of two major interstates, I-84 and future I-86,” Becker said. “The town of Wallkill has been a tremendous partner in this endeavor.”
“Thoughtful partnership and intense planning has gone into this construction,” he said. What”™s next for the project manager, who has spent more than 30 years of his life with ORMC? “I don”™t know,” he smiled. “Right now, my goal is to bring the best we can to the community on time and on budget. I”™ll worry about what”™s next when I”™m done with this project.”
