Westchester County Announces Biggest Project in a Decade

WESTCHESTER, N.Y. — The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) recently revealed plans to build a large Ambulatory Care Pavilion adjacent to Westchester Medical Center on the Valhalla campus. At the beginning of March, in a meeting with the Westchester County Local Development Corporation (LDC), medical center executives shared their plan for the largest health care construction project the county has seen in decades, according to Westchester Magazine.

The ambitious new project would construct a $230 million, 280,000-square-foot Ambulatory Care Pavilion, which will follow the health care industry’s shift towards an expansion in ambulatory care in an attempt to keep patients from using the hospitals for less complicated procedures that could be performed elsewhere. “The development of an ambulatory care hub on our Valhalla campus will respond to key changes in health care delivery, while addressing a critical shortage of space as our programs and patient volume continue to grow,” Michael D. Israel, WMCHealth president and CEO said in a statement.

Designed as an eight-story steel and glass structure, the project will allow the health network to offer more outpatient services and showcase the latest health care technology. It will include 185,000 square feet of ambulatory care service space as well as an Advanced Imaging Center, Ambulatory Surgery Center and Heart and Vascular Institute. The expansion will also include a 20,000-square-foot private room expansion for the Westchester Medical Center campus and an additional 75,000 square feet designated for physician offices, according to Westchester Magazine. With a ground breaking ceremony planned for this spring, the start of construction will coincide with the opening of the Westchester Medical Center’s new lobby and Caregiver Center.

WMCHealth partnered with the LDC, an agency created by Westchester County Executive Rob Astornio, to fund the largest health care construction project for the county in over a decade. The agency makes tax-exempt financing available to non-profit institutions, according to Westchester Magazine. The LDC had to amend its bylaws to expand its reach to include public benefit corporations, such as the new Ambulatory Care Pavilion, according to a statement. “This is the single biggest financing for our LDC to date and by working together with Westchester Medical Center, we are improving health care outcomes and creating jobs, which is a winning combination,” Astorino said in a statement.

The Ambulatory Care Pavilion will open its doors sometime in 2018 and will have invested nearly $1 billion in infrastructure, technology, renovation and expansion on the Valhalla campus alone in just over a decade, according to Israel.