Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) and Westchester County celebrated the height of construction on the health network’s new Ambulatory Care Pavilion adjacent to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla – the largest healthcare construction project in Westchester County in decades – with a ceremony recognizing the construction milestone.
Representatives from WMCHealth, Westchester County, and the Hudson Valley community gathered for a “topping off” ceremony.
The 280,000 s/f $230 million Ambulatory Care Pavilion, on schedule for completion in 2018, responds to a need for additional space for Westchester Medical Center’s growing programs and patient volume.
The eight story steel and glass facility will include an Advanced Imaging Center, Ambulatory Surgery Center and Heart and Vascular Institute, in addition to a 20,000 s/f expansion in private rooms for the medical center and 75,000 additional square feet for physicians’ offices.
Collaboration between WMCHealth and Westchester County was key to the construction of the Ambulatory Care Pavilion.
County Executive Robert P. Astorino created the Westchester County Local Development Corporation (LDC) to make tax exempt financing available for not-for-profit organizations at no expense to the county’s taxpayers.
The LDC amended its bylaws to expand the nonprofit status reach to public benefit corporations like WMCHealth.
With the growth of WMCHealth to include seven hospitals and a workforce of more than 12,000 people, the construction of the new facility is expected to generate 180 new full-time jobs when complete, as well as 225 prevailing wage construction jobs.
The construction project is believed to be one of Westchester County’s largest non-residential building projects in recent memory and is the largest healthcare construction project since the construction of WMCHealth main tower in 1977 and the 250,000 s/f Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in 2004.
“The Ambulatory Care Pavilion will enable WMCHealth to expand its outpatient care offerings and benefit the greater Hudson Valley communities through the economic growth that accompanies it, now and in the future,” said Mitchell Hochberg, Chairman of the Westchester County Health Care Corporation Board of Directors.
“Beyond the physical space, the new facility will be a symbol of WMCHealth’s commitment to the Hudson Valley.”
To date, 20,000 man hours have been invested to complete the work on the pavilion’s foundations; 5,045 tons of concrete have been poured and 160 tons of steel reinforcements have been installed in the concrete foundations.
