A Closer Look at Westchester Medical Center’s Ambulatory Care Pavilion

It is the county’s largest healthcare project in decades.

Patients in need of outpatient health services throughout the Hudson Valley region and beyond are one step closer to having a state-of-the-art facility in their own backyard. Construction has begun on the 280,000-square-foot Ambulatory Care Pavilion, which will be adjacent to Westchester Medical Center, the flagship of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth), in Valhalla. The $230 million project is Westchester County’s largest healthcare construction project in decades.

The ambitious project was announced last spring, and a “topping off” ceremony was held in September to celebrate the progress. (See Construction by the Numbers sidebar for details.)

The pavilion is an eight-story steel-and-glass facility that will include 185,000 square feet of ambulatory-care space. The space will include an Advanced Imaging Center, Ambulatory Surgery Center and Heart and Vascular Institute, in addition to a 20,000-square-foot expansion in private rooms for Westchester Medical Center and 75,000 additional square feet for physicians’ offices. This construction addresses a need for patient space, driven by continuing increases in Westchester Medical Center programs and patients.

“As the region’s leading healthcare resource, Westchester Medical Center Health Network is committed to providing the high quality of advanced care that the residents of our region expect and deserve,” says WMCHealth President and CEO Michael D. Israel. “Today is an exciting day for WMCHealth and for our communities as we celebrate the significant progress that has been made to date on this one-of-a-kind facility and look forward to the care, innovative technologies and possibilities for the future that will live within its walls.”

The facility is expected to provide a boost to Westchester’s economy by adding jobs to the region. The pavilion is expected to generate 180 new full-time jobs when it is complete, as well as 225 prevailing-wage construction jobs during its development. The project is the largest healthcare construction project in the county since the 400,000-square-foot main tower was built on the Valhalla campus in 1977, followed by the addition of the 250,000-square-foot Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in 2004.

“The Ambulatory Care Pavilion will enable WMCHealth to expand its outpatient care offerings and benefit the greater Hudson Valley communities through the economic growth that accompanies it, now and in the future,” noted Mitchell Hochberg, chairman of the network’s Board of Directors. “Beyond the physical space, the new facility will be a symbol of WMCHealth’s commitment to the Hudson Valley.”

When the Ambulatory Care Pavilion is completed in 2018, WMCHealth will have invested nearly $1 billion in projects on its Valhalla campus in just over a decade.

Construction By the Numbers

280,000 square feet

$230 Million investment

8-story steel-and-glass facility

180 new full-time jobs created

225 prevailing-wage construction jobs created

160 tons of steel reinforcement in the concrete foundations

5,045 tons of concrete poured

20,000 worker hours to complete the work on the pavilion’s foundations

20,000-square-foot expansion in private rooms

75,000 additional square feet for physician offices

185,000 square feet of ambulatory care space

For a time-lapse video of the construction go to www.advancingcarehv.com/acp