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Beam-Signing Celebrates Northside's $20 Million Project
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Gail Halstead’s roots with Northside Medical Center and the system that used to operate it run deep.
Her grandmother worked in the dietary department at the former Southside Medical Center, like Northside operated by the former Youngstown Hospital Association. Born at Northside, she attended YHA’s nursing school, became a registered nurse and worked at the hospital, as well as at the former Beeghly Medical Park affiliate, for 46 years until she retired.
“YHA is in my roots,” she reflected after signing a beam that will be hoisted atop the atrium being constructed in the new tower on the Northside campus.
The Hubbard resident was among Northside staff and guests gathered for a ceremony Thursday afternoon to mark the completion of the first phase of the $20 million construction and renovation project that got under way this summer.
“It’s amazing. It’s amazing to see from the groundbreaking what it looks like now,” she said. “Maybe it will be the start of a new era for Northside.”
Work began this summer on the project, which involves construction of a 30,000-square-foot tower and renovation of 28,000 square feet of existing space.
Unlike a normal topping-off ceremony for a construction project, during which a beam with an evergreen tree on it is lifted to the project’s highest point and put in place, the beam was to be moved to Northside’s cafeteria until Jan. 1 to allow other hospital employees to sign it, then will be stored until April when it will be lifted atop the structure.
The project, slated for completion by late 2014, involves the expansion of the emergency department including the addition of 21 private exam and trauma rooms; a new main entrance and lobby with registration, preadmission testing, waiting rooms, gift shop and information center; centralization of outpatient services and addition of 21 patient holding rooms; and two new endoscopy suites and a bronchoscopy room.
“It’s exciting to be standing in this building,” said Sandy Kessler, Northside board chairman. When he first became chairman, he recalled, one of the commitments Northside’s board and administration made “was to make this hospital an inviting place for all that need to come here, and I think once this is complete you’ll see exactly that.”
Kirk Ray, president and CEO of Northside and ValleyCare Health System of Ohio, praised both hospital staff for coping with the construction and the project’s general contractor, Robins & Morton of Birmingham, for their work. “Having to work around a construction project like this is very challenging, but to be able to do that and continue to take great care of patients every day is a testament to our staff here,” he said.
“It’s been a really smooth project for us so far, which got us a week ahead of schedule,” said Rick Hocanson, project supervisor for Robins & Morton, who operates out of the firm’s Nashville office, which specializes in hospital construction.
Once completed, the project will represent the largest investment at the hospital in 15 years. “This is a big investment in our future,” Ray said. He acknowledged emergency room visits have seen “a little bit of a drop” during the project but, based on national trends for new emergency department openings, anticipates an increase of up to 12% in the months following the project’s completion.
One feature of the project is that it will provide Northside with a “front door,” Ray said. He acknowledged that when he came to the area earlier this year after being hired he drove around the hospital two or three times to find the entrance. “It’s confusing for patients and visitors so we wanted to create a true main entrance,” he said.
As he showed off one of the new emergency rooms that is now in operation, trauma specialist Michael Smith characterized the project as “the most exciting thing that’s happened in this institution” in the 25 years that he’s been employed there. While there have been other projects at the hospital over the years, this one is focused on direct patient care as opposed to medical education and offices. “The patients are going to see the effect of a brand new room, not just a building at the front of the hospital.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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