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WILKES-BARRE — Things will be looking up for Wilkes-Barre General Hospital with the $40 million vertical expansion project to add three floors and critical care beds on top of an addition that opened two years ago.
Construction will begin in the next month with a completion date set for the end of 2017, said Cor Catena, CEO of the for-profit WBGH and the regional health care provider Commonwealth Health.
Funding will come from the parent company, publicly traded as Community Health Systems Inc., that recently announced it is looking to sell its hospitals in order to reduce debt. Catena viewed the expansions as a commitment by the hospital to provide much needed services locally.
“I’m very bullish on the future. I think this is a tremendous investment in our community and our population,” Catena said during a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday afternoon on a patch of grass and dirt near the soon-to-be construction site.
“One of our goals is to make sure that folks in our community don’t feel the need to travel outside of the community to receive outstanding health care and this is another example of our commitment to do that,” he added.
State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, a city resident, echoed Catena’s comment. Pashinski disclosed he was a patient at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital a few years ago when he received a cardiac stent.
The region loses between $800 million and $1 billion annually when residents travel elsewhere for medical care, Pashinski said.
“This is one of the reasons why I think our area is so well positioned to attract more people to come back home to Northeastern Pennsylvania,” he added. “The quality of care that you get here is as good as anywhere.”
The project builds upon the $53 million Emergency Department and Heart & Vascular Institute addition that opened in July 2014. A total of 34 critical-care beds will be added on the third and fourth floors and approximately 200 rooms will be converted from semi-private to private. The fifth floor will house a “mechanical penthouse” for equipment and machinery.
Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tony George welcomed the project that will bring added revenue to the city in terms of construction permits and taxes.
“The added patient rooms and advanced medical technologies will add jobs to Wilkes-Barre’s economy. Having such a state of the art treatment center will attract the best doctors, nurses and other care providers to our city,” George said.
Catena said the project will create construction jobs and most likely the hiring of additional hospital staff.
