BMH Outpatient Building and Renovation Project

Barry Beeman, hospital president states, “The new building and renovation project is very necessary for BMH to continue to meet the community’s need for high quality medical services.”

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital broke ground for an Outpatient Building on June 2, 2007. Construction is going well; the project will be completed in December 2008.

The new BMH Outpatient Building will augment services currently offered at BMH by providing new private, modern, comfortable space for the following departments: women’s imaging, Breast Care Program, peri-operative assessment, X-ray, lab blood drawing facilities, and oncology. Anyone who has had to deal with cancer and receive chemotherapy in the currently small BMH Oncology Unit will greatly appreciate what the new facility will offer.

The BMH Outpatient Building will also provide new convenient space for orthopedic surgeons’ offices, the BMH Comprehensive Care Clinic, nuclear medicine, outpatient cardiology testing, and Rehabilitation Services (physical and occupational therapy). Once these departments move, the space crunch in some other areas of the hospital will ease.

A 30,000 square-foot three-level building, the new BMH Outpatient Building will be situated between the oldest section of the current hospital (the Pavilion area) and the Medical Office Building at the far end of the contiguous hospital buildings. (See new site drawing from Belmont available from Williams & Frehsee, Inc.)

Ambulatory Care Unit Renovation Also Planned

Renovation of the current Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU) is expected to begin in late Fall of this year. The renovation will occur in three phases and take approximately ten months.

When updated, the ACU will feature all private rooms, a larger family waiting area, reception space, and a private consultation room for the surgeon to meet with family members following surgery. Two endoscopy rooms and a minor procedure room will be created. The recovery room (Post Anesthesia Care Unit) will be relocated and completely renovated. The ACU renovation will provide improved patient privacy and staff efficiency to help this growing department continue to meet patient needs.

Parking at BMH to Improve

A temporary parking lot has been constructed on the Belmont Avenue side of the Dunham building to replace the 18 spaces lost during construction. BMH is leasing a nearby lot for use by all BMH-affiliated students and BMH employees on a volunteer basis. The shuttle lot will free up 12 employee parking spaces for use by patients, easing the parking crunch on the hospital campus. Once the new lot associated with the Outpatient Building is put into use, the parking situation on the BMH campus will improve permanently with the addition of 28 spaces.

The estimated cost of the Outpatient Building and the renovation of the ACU is $12.2 million. Funding is being provided by a combination of borrowing, internal resources, and donations – the Building on Excellence Capital Campaign to raise a minimum of $2.5 million is currently under way.

BMH looks forward to getting this project completed in order to be able to offer the community even better services with a great new facility! For information about the Building on Excellence Capital Campaign, contact the Director of Development, Ellen Smith at 802-257-8314.

For information about the building project, contact Prudence MacKinney, VP Professional Services & Planning at 802-257-8367.