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Highland Seeks State Approval for Building Addition Project

Project would include 6 new operating rooms, build a 26-bed inpatient observation unit

Friday, February 20, 2015

Highland Hospital is moving forward with plans for a $28 million project to build 6 new operating rooms and a 26-bed inpatient observation unit. This week the hospital filed a Certificate of Need application with the New York State Department of Health to seek permission for the project. With the state’s approval, construction could begin in late spring 2015.

The focus of Highland’s planned addition is modernization rather than facility expansion; Highland will retain the same number of licensed beds (261) and operating rooms (14) as it has today.

The building addition would answer three essential facility-improvement priorities for Highland: updating and expanding the hospital’s perioperative area; creating a dedicated space for observation patients; and increasing the complement of private rooms on inpatient units.

The project would add 30,000 square feet to the south side of the hospital and renovate 11,000 square feet of existing space. New construction and renovation on Level 1 would create a state-of-the-art perioperative suite, where Highland will build six new operating rooms to replace six older, undersized ones and combine some smaller existing ORs to create larger rooms.  

Level 2 of the addition will house a 26-bed inpatient observation unit. Creating a dedicated space for these short-stay patients answers a growing need for the hospital; observation status patients have increased by 47% over the past three years at Highland. Currently, observation patients are placed on Highland’s medical inpatient units. Co-locating all observation patients in one dedicated space where care can be customized to their needs would yield more appropriate and efficient care for observation patients. It would also give Highland space on inpatient units to convert some semi-private inpatient rooms to private. Increasing the number of private rooms improves patient satisfaction as well as clinical outcomes; evidence shows patients recover more quickly, are more satisfied with their care and have a lower risk of infection in private rooms.

Since Highland announced the addition project in early 2014, it has worked with a steering committee of South Wedge community representatives and shared updates at monthly Sector 6 meetings to incorporate neighborhood feedback into project planning.

Highland and steering committee members have worked to address issues that impact the neighborhood, including the new addition’s appearance, Highland campus landscaping, parking, noise control and ensuring hospital-neighborhood communication and collaboration.

The proposed addition would take 55 parking spaces from the hospital’s south parking lot; Highland has conducted a parking study and developed a plan to replace the lost spaces and gain incremental parking by reconfiguring all its existing parking areas. A landscaping committee comprised of hospital leadership and neighborhood members convenes in March to explore options for the addition project’s landscaping and ways to enhance the entire Highland campus. 

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