Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Facility Expansion
November 30, 2000
Lebanon, NH
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) submitted a Certificate of Need (CON) application on October 30 to the State of New Hampshire seeking approval to construct a new ambulatory care building, expand its diagnostic and treatment building, add a parking garage, and renovate selected existing areas. The project also reorients the campus to include major patient activities on the east side of the facility. The estimated cost is $137 million for construction and $12 million for new medical equipment, for a total of $149 million.
The plan is designed to accommodate significant growth in patient needs. The need for the additional space is based on the large growth in patient volumes over the past decade. It also responds to the trend in family-centered care and multidisciplinary team approaches to patient care. The facility plan will meet current space deficits as well as provide facilities for additional growth. Since opening the existing facility in 1991, outpatient visits have grown by over 70 percent and the number of physicians working at the medical center has increased 63 percent. Assuming the facility project moves forward on the time frame included in the CON, the number of outpatients seen annually at the medical center will have doubled by the time the new ambulatory care space comes on line.
These growing needs are the result of a number of factors. There's been an increase in non-invasive tests and procedures that can be done in an ambulatory setting, providing care more easily and less expensively than in a hospital setting. The general population is also aging and requiring more medical services. These changes have been tracked at DHMC over the past decade and are expected to continue.
The space shortage is affecting the ability of DHMC to provide needed patient care. Access to patient services is a major issue we are seeking to address. Wait times for services requested by patients and referring physicians have been extended due to lack of space. There is a significant shortage of accessible patient parking. The project is designed to improve people's ability to get appointments and be treated by providing more exam rooms and diagnostic and treatment space such as x-ray, operating rooms, and emergency room space. The plan also provides for improved patient care space, such as larger exam rooms to accommodate family members and caregivers.
Tom Colacchio, M.D., President, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic, stated, "Additional facilities are critical for DHMC to continue to provide needed health care services to the region. These will not only support quality patient care, but will help assure access to needed specialty services in an appropriate manner."
The new space will provide an additional 160,000 square feet for outpatient visits and 110,000 square feet for a diagnostic and treatment facility for surgery, diagnostic tests and emergency services. A parking structure, adjacent to the new ambulatory building, will provide 540 spaces for patients and visitors, and allow close, easy access into the building.
In commenting on the plan, Jim Varnum, President, Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, stated, "Our planning responds to identified patient needs. Our facility plans have been guided by our belief that patients and families should receive compassionate care in a comfortable and healing environment."
If the CON and other local regulatory approvals are obtained by June, 2001, site work would begin in July and construction the following year in July, 2002. There would be phased occupancy of facilities from 2003 through 2006.
For more information contact Jamie Guth at 603/6501905.
