Building Plans

A press release we issued yesterday follows. Story by Jeff Krasner in the Boston Globe today offers more context and details. See my post on May 29 for related commentary.

BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER UNVEILS
BLUEPRINT FOR GROWTH
Focus is on increased capacity on main campus
and proposed new ambulatory care center to support growing patient needs

BOSTON – Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has begun its long-term plan for growth that envisions increased clinical capacity at its main Longwood Medical Area (LMA) campus and enhanced convenience and access for patients at a new ambulatory care center at a yet-to-be-determined suburban location.

This conceptual blueprint for growth, approved last month by the BIDMC Board of Directors, calls for more private rooms, more operating rooms, new technology and more rational use of space on BIDMC’s main campus in the LMA. The projects, to be carried out over the next 10 to 15 years, will create an estimated 500-700 construction jobs in Boston and ultimately add more than 550,000 square feet of space for patient care.

Over the next year, BIDMC staff will launch more detailed programming, planning and architectural efforts in cooperation with the Boston Redevelopment Authority officials and neighborhood leaders to turn its conceptual blueprint into a specific plan.

Services in the proposed 100,000-150,000 square foot suburban ambulatory care center will likely include primary care and specialist physicians, ambulatory surgery and ancillary services like radiology. BIDMC is about to issue a request for proposal to launch the planning and design process, with a target opening date in 2011. Pending site selection, approvals and permitting, construction of the off-site ambulatory center will begin within the next two years.

This long-term facilities plan reflects BIDMC’s success in recent years in turning around its finances and increasing its volume in the highly competitive Boston health care arena.

"To provide the best care for our patients and our community, we always need to be looking ahead," said Lois Silverman, chair of the BIDMC board. "We are planning for both volume growth and changing patient needs, as well as for advances in technology and clinical practices."

"Our goal is to maximize the limited space available on our campus to create a more rational and convenient medical center for our patients," said Paul Levy, BIDMC’s President and CEO. "We intend to be a model for how care is organized, both physically and clinically."

"The Shapiro Clinic Center will continue to be a vibrant, busy, multi-specialty center of ambulatory care," added Eric Buehrens, BIDMC’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "But we also want to do our part to reduce the traffic and parking burden in the LMA by providing convenient, accessible care for patients living and working in the suburbs."

BIDMC will partner with its physicians’ group, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in the development of the suburban ambulatory center.

"Upgrading our facilities is critical to the mission of providing the best care and service to our patients, including convenient access to ambulatory services," said Stuart Rosenberg, MD, HMFP’s President and CEO. "To that end, HMFP has committed to support the jointly developed facilities plan."

The new blueprint analyzed volume trends, assessed existing facilities and analyzed various alternatives for adding the estimated 700,000 square feet of additional space needed for patient care.

Some key features in the plan:

Growth on the west campus will include expansion of the West Clinical Center located at One Deaconess Road and construction of a new building at the site of the current Libby and Deaconess buildings on Pilgrim Road;

BIDMC will continue to concentrate the majority of inpatient beds on the west campus, eventually including maternity services, to improve both operations and access to inpatient services for emergency department patients;

At the same time, the east campus will increasingly house most outpatient and ambulatory services, administrative offices and research labs;

Over time, the medical center will add approximately 130 beds, with an emphasis on creating more private rooms and greater intensive care capacity, reflecting the trend toward caring for sicker patients;

Capacity will be expanded in several other clinical areas, such as in operating rooms and radiology suites. New operating rooms will be larger and capable of handling the increasingly sophisticated technology, including minimally invasive surgical instruments and additional imaging equipment;

The total cost of the 10-15 year plan is expected to be $1 billion.

Projects already underway will not be affected. For example, BIDMC will lease approximately 50 percent of the space after the opening of the Center for Life Sciences, a new research building currently under construction by private developers in the LMA. Also, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham, a community hospital affiliated with BIDMC, is currently planning to expand its emergency department, add inpatient rooms and enhance its radiology services.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and ranks third in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a research partner of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.harvard.edu.