Hackensack Meridian Health‘s Bayshore Medical Center broke ground on a new emergency care center on Thursday.
The 32,000-square-foot project will increase the hospital’s capacity to treat patients with emergency needs, it said.
“Hackensack Meridian Health’s mission is to transform health care,” Robert C. Garrett, CEO, Hackensack Meridian Health, said. “Today, Bayshore Medical Center is living this mission by creating a new emergency care facility. This new center will help us continue to provide cutting-edge care that’s also convenient and offers a great patient experience. Bayshore Medical Center is a true community treasure – a center for excellence and compassionate care.”
The new center will have the capacity to treat up to 55,000 people annually for a variety of medical issues, offering increased efficiency and decreased wait times for patients.
The facility will have 35 private patient pays; swing space with capacity for pediatric care; new emergency equipment; an enlarged ambulance arrival area, which can accommodate up to six ambulances at once; a new walk-in area with dedicated parking; and more.
“Bayshore Medical Center has been caring for this community for more than 40 years and we pride ourselves on providing exceptional medical care,” said Frank Citara, chief hospital executive, Bayshore Medical Center. “As we have grown over the years, the capabilities of our facility have been stretched and the time to expand has come. Today, we are here to break ground on a brand new, state-of-the-art Emergency Care Center that will truly usher in a new era for our hospital.”
The center will be named by Mary Ellen Harris, founder and president of the Golden Dome Foundation, in honor of Dr. Robert H. Harris.
“My husband, Robert, loved our community and Bayshore Medical Center,” Harris said. “Supporting this important initiative will not only benefit our neighbors and the clinicians at the medical center, but will enhance care for patients, while leaving a lasting legacy in his honor.”
Construction begins this week and is expected to last 26 months. The first phase of the project includes improvements to the hospital’s rear parking lot. Construction of the new building is scheduled to begin in January 2020 with the facility opening in late 2021.
“We’re really reinventing Bayshore Medical Center with this project,” Citara said. “We will finally have a facility as good as the people working within it. All of our team members are looking forward to these improvements, but the people who are really going to benefit are our patients. And that’s what it’s all about.”
Once the emergency care area is complete, the hospital said it will immediately start on renovations to its north side main entrance.
