Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla plans to add a five-story patient care center to its campus. The proposed new building would provide 162,626 square feet of space. The project is expected to create an estimated 250 on-site construction jobs and 127 new full-time jobs once completed. Construction is expected to take 24 months. Turner Construction is expected to be the general contractor.
Michael D. Israel, president and CEO of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth), said, “The Patient Care Tower on the Westchester Medical Center campus will be the Hudson Valley”™s hub of critical care medicine as it will bring together critical care and medical-surgical specialties in one location, enabling Westchester Medical Center to convert to all private inpatient rooms across the rest of the campus.”
Israel also said that he expects the new Patient Care Tower to advance the Medical Center’s academic mission by giving medical residents and students a state-of-the-art
Westchester County”™s Local Development Corporation (LDC) has given final approval to floating $195 million in tax-exempt bonds to help finance the project. The LDC’s resolution approving floating the bonds allows the total amount to go higher to a maximum of $225 million if necessary.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer said that the bond financing will be done at no cost or risk to Westchester’s taxpayers. About $25 million of the project’s cost is expected to come from philanthropic sources.
“This magnificent new project will further enhance our county”™s world-class health care sector while providing a boost to our region”™s economy,” Latimer said.
LDC Chair Joan McDonald estimated that the county will receive more than $3.5 million in total economic benefits as a result of the project over 30 years. The total benefits are given as being comprised of $722,468 in sales tax revenue from construction, $2,528,062 of sales tax revenue from operations over 30 years, and $281,250 in fees to be collected by the LDC based on the bond proceeds.
The $221.3 million facility would have four floors that each have 32 beds and ground floor conference center space. The project has been described as the first of its kind in New York state and all of the rooms are going to be built with the capacity to serve as medical surgical rooms as well as intensive care rooms.
Services to be provided in the new building include trauma care, neurosciences, cardiology and general surgery.
