$100 Million expansion underway at UPMC Passavant
Construction is moving full speed ahead on the seven-story tower addition, which will provide increased capacity for advanced tertiary cancer care, advanced cardiovascular and neurosurgical treatments, and emergency medical care. The 188,000-square-foot addition, next to the existing hospital, will be completed in Spring 2010.
“As a leading health care facility north of the city, UPMC Passavant’s vision is to build the ‘hospital of the future’ for residents living in the communities north of Pittsburgh and beyond,” said Teresa G. Petrick, president, UPMC Passavant.
“Our goal is to provide patients and their families with world-class care without having to travel outside of their community,” said Ms. Petrick. “In addition to building a state-of-the-art facility staffed by renowned medical specialists, we also are focused on making a stay at our hospital the ultimate patient experience by offering private rooms, valet parking, concierge services, and room service. We are committed to providing the highest level of patient and family focused care.”
The New Patient Pavilion
When completed, the new pavilion will provide increased capacity for the UPMC Cancer Center, emergency department and surgical services, as well as increase the number of intensive care unit beds, progressive care unit beds, and medical-surgical unit beds.
UPMC Cancer Center
The expansion adds 27,000 square feet to the Cancer Center, tripling the current size.
New features:
- New clinical space will be added for advanced tertiary services (breast, lung, esophageal, upper gastrointestinal, pancreas, colorectal, and liver)
- Addition of a CT simulator
- Additional office space for medical oncology services
- A separate and dedicated outside elevator to the Cancer Center
- Windows in all chemo profusion rooms to allow improved access, visibility and natural lighting
- Separate waiting areas for radiation and chemo patients
- A cancer resource library
Special features:
- High-end treatment modalities including:
- 4D respiratory-gated radiation therapy
- Intensity modulated radiation therapy
- On-board imaging to improve tumor targeting and treatment
Emergency Department
The expansion adds 21,000 square feet to the emergency department, doubling treatment capacity.
New features:
- Designed to trauma specifications
- Three private triage bays
- Four fast-track rooms for quicker patient turnaround times
- 26 acute treatment rooms
- Four critical/trauma rooms nearest to the ambulance entrance
- 10 bed observation area
- Dedicated imaging services in fast-track area to keep patient flow and wait times to a minimum
Special features:
- Stroke Telemedicine Program – emergency room physicians at both UPMC Passavant campuses have immediate, 24-hour access to experts at the UPMC Stroke Institute in Oakland through state-of-the-art videoconferencing technology
- Two new catheterization labs
- An electrophysiology lab
Surgical Services
New features:
- Six new state-of-the-art operating rooms for vascular, spinal and oncology cases
- Three rooms dedicated to image-guided procedures
- Doubling of recovery room space
- Satellite pharmacy and pathology labs for improved efficiency
- Onsite blood bank
- Expanded family waiting area
Special features:
Capability for high-end cardiac surgical procedures, including mitral valve repairs, coronary artery revascularization, aortic valve replacement and left ventricular reconstruction
Main Entrance
The main entrance will be reconfigured around the hospital’s key architectural feature: the glass rotunda. There will be entrances at both ends, which will naturally funnel visitors into the main registration area where they can be greeted by customer service representatives and directed to their destination. Utilizing the airport concept of separating arrivals and departures, the same design will be incorporated into the front entrance so that patients and families arriving can drop off in front of the hospital, and discharges can be picked up further up the drive providing a dedicated area for this traffic.
Third Floor
The third floor level will add 16 critical care beds for medical and surgical cardiac patients.
New features:
- Nurse and physician workstations will be located outside patient rooms
- Identical rooms - all 16 of the ICU rooms have the exact same layout; this will improve patient safety, noise reduction, and family space.
- Staff lounges are located on the outside walls for infusion of natural light
- Private family rooms
- Spacious and comfortable waiting areas offering wireless internet access, blankets, pillows and food and beverage carts
Fourth Floor
24 progressive care beds will be added to bring the total number of PCU beds to 54.
New features:
- Same design and features as highlighted on the third floor
Fifth and Sixth Floors
These two floors will be used for medical-surgical patients and will add 24 beds per floor.
New features:
- Same design and features as highlighted on the third floor
- Officials project that 300 health care jobs will be created by the expansion of UPMC Passavant, for a total of 2,500 employees hospital-wide. The expansion will create capacity for 88 new hospital beds, bringing the total beds to 399.