Date Published: Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Date Updated: Friday, June 30, 2023
Good Samaritan Hospital Kicks Off a $9 Million Refurbishment of the Bariatric and Orthopedic Surgery Units
SUFFERN, N.Y. (July 24, 2018) – Good Samaritan Hospital, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is embarking on a $9 million comprehensive upgrade to the facilities that house two of its leading programs. The hospital held a ceremony today heralding the beginning of construction on these new spaces, which will bring a new level of patient experience to the region and foster a specialized, patient-first approach to bariatric and orthopedic care.
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Michael D. Israel, President and CEO of Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth), and Mary P. Leahy, MD, CEO of Bon Secours Charity Health System, smash the ceremonial wall to kick off construction of the new orthopedic and bariatric units. From left, Harold Peterson, Chair of the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation Board of Directors, Ramon Rivera, MD, Bariatric Medical Director of the Surgical Weight Loss Institute, and Kenneth Austin, MD, Chief of Orthopedic Surgery, look on.
The project will include the creation of separate and private entrances to both the bariatric and orthopedic units where patients will be greeted by a program concierge at expanded reception/waiting lounges. The concierge will guide patients through the entire process, delivering a premium level of customer service. Both units will have new flooring, patient room and waiting area furniture, wall treatments and décor. Each room will be equipped with state-of-the-art digital monitoring consoles that nurses can use to input all patient documentation.
The units will also have centralized meeting spaces for multi-disciplinary collaboration.
The 10,000-square-foot orthopedic unit renovation will increase the number of patient recovery rooms by a third to 14 private en-suite rooms. The refurbished space also includes a multi-purpose room to be used for patient education, mindfulness exercises and community dining; a PT/OT gym complete with large scale simulations/props to help patients practice navigating activities of daily living; a mileage marked walking track and a family waiting area with coffee bar.
The new, dedicated 6,000-square-foot bariatric unit includes seven private en-suite recovery rooms for increased patient safety and sensitivity, and the unit will be built to bariatric accessible specifications to ensure patient comfort. Additionally, the program coordinator's office will be stationed within the unit to be easily available to patients and families. The project is expected to be complete in Spring 2019.
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Participating in the Construction Commencement Ceremony are (l-r): Kenneth Austin, MD, Chief of Orthopedic Surgery; Mayor Edward Markunas of Suffern; Harold Peterson, Chair of the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation Board of Directors; Michael D. Israel, President and CEO of Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth); Mary P. Leahy, MD, CEO of Bon Secours Charity Health System; Ramon Rivera, MD, Bariatric Medical Director of the Surgical Weight Loss Institute; Anthony Costello, Senior Vice President, Professional and Support Services of WMCHealth; and Gary Brudnicki, Senior Executive Vice President of WMCHealth.
Good Samaritan Hospital's $9 million refurbishment is one of several recent investments made by WMCHealth in communities across the Hudson Valley.
Recently, MidHudson Regional Hospital completed an $8 million renovation of the medical-surgical floor in its Cooke building. This spring, Bon Secours Community Hospital celebrated the beginning of construction on a $40 million expansion of the Port Jervis hospital that will include the creation of a medical village. Other current investments include a $92 million expansion of HealthAlliance Hospital: Mary's Avenue Campus in Kingston, the first part of a multiyear $133.6 million project that will ultimately reimagine HealthAlliance Hospital: Broadway Campus into a medical village. Both medical village projects are supported in part by the New York State Capital Restructuring Financing Program.
On WMCHealth's flagship campus in Valhalla, construction is underway on the 280,000-square-foot Ambulatory Care Pavilion, a $230 million investment in the region and Westchester County's largest healthcare construction project in decades.