Penn State Health on track for more renovations, improved patient services
Penn State Health is moving forward with significant construction and renovation projects that will allow the health system to better meet the health care needs of the community and create greater opportunities to advance biomedical and health science research and education.
The Penn State Board of Trustees approved today the final project plans and funds to fit out the second and third floors of the Emergency Department, as well as architect selection for the seventh floor south addition renovations of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. These projects will increase capacity, clinical space and research space in the Medical Center and Penn State Cancer Institute. Trustees also voted to grant Penn State Health ability to handle directly the potential purchase of a piece of property in Derry Twp. for use as a system corporate headquarters.
Emergency Department Second and Third Floor Fit Out
The Emergency Department Second and Third Floor Fit Out project is part of a long-term, phased realignment of the entire Emergency Department and will complete the interior portion. The Emergency Department expansion, which is a separate project, included adding shell space on the 2nd and 3rd floors. This latest project includes construction and design of a new operating suite and additional employee work areas in that shell space.
On the second floor, three new operating rooms will replace older rooms, providing future opportunities to increase pre- and post-surgery care spaces. On the third floor, shell space will become additional clinical and research faculty and staff space for the Cancer Institute. When complete, the $20 million 2nd and 3rd floor fit out project will modernize operating rooms with leading technology and capabilities, and increase the clinical and research capacity of the Cancer Institute.
The project is expected to be finished in summer 2019 in conjunction with the Emergency Department expansion, minimizing disruption to the occupied Emergency Department space below.
Hershey Medical Center is the only hospital in Pennsylvania with both and Adult and Pediatric Level I Trauma Center, making it a critical resource for serving the surrounding community. Since moving to its current location in 1995, the Medical Center Emergency Department has seen an increasing volume of patients needing emergency care – the department serves approximately 75,000 patients a year.
Penn State Cancer Institute is committed to fighting cancer on every front, including early education and diagnosis, early detection and diagnosis, and effective treatment. The Cancer Institute is an important resource for robust research programs in central Pennsylvania. (Click on image above for larger version.)
Seventh Floor Addition Renovations
The Medical Center is in early stages of planning to convert space on the 7th floor of its adult hospital into a Medical Intensive Care Unit. The renovation will expand the Medical Center's adult inpatient capacity with 24 new medical intensive care beds, as well as increase related nurse and physician workspace, anesthesia space and storage space.
The 7th floor of the South Addition is currently home to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Continuing Care Nursery and Pediatric Progressive Care, which will all move to the Children's Hospital when the expansion project to add three floors to that building is completed.
With trustees approving the selection of Flad Architects, of Madison, Wisc., as the project architect for the 7th floor renovation project, the project design will begin. The renovations are slated to begin after the Children's Hospital expansion is complete in 2020.
Purchase Option of Hershey Company Headquarters on Crystal A Drive
The Crystal A Drive property in Derry Twp. has served as headquarters for The Hershey Company. The company's long-term vision is to consolidate its Derry Township offices to the downtown area by 2020, vacating the Crystal A location. Since the fall of 2017, Penn State Health has been using a portion of the office space at Crystal A Drive for health system administrative staff.
The building currently houses several Penn State Health functions, including human resources, government relations, business development, strategic planning and marketing and communications.
Penn State currently holds the lease with the Hershey Company. Today's vote was a procedural matter in which the University granted Penn State Health the authority to handle directly with the Hershey Company the potential purchase of the property, which includes nearly 300,000 square feet of space in three buildings, 51 acres and surface parking. (Click on image above for larger version.)
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