HealthAlliance Receives Key State Approval for $92 Million Hospital Transformation

HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth), has received contingency approval from the New York State Department of Health for a transformative $92 million expansion and enhancement of HealthAlliance Hospital: Mary's Avenue Campus, HealthAlliance and WMCHealth announced today.

The reimagined HealthAlliance Hospital will have a new, four-story tower and 437,000 square feet of space -- 100,000 square feet more than the hospital's current configuration. It will boast over 200 total beds, of which 140 will be private, and a new state-of-the-art emergency department, intensive care unit and medical-surgical tower. The facility will also include an advanced medical imaging center, two computer-enhanced inpatient surgical suites, a same-day surgery center, an expanded postsurgical recovery unit and an advanced endoscopy services center. A new Family Birth Place center for best-practice labor and delivery along with a new main entrance and welcome center will also be constructed.

"We're thrilled to have received approval for this important project from the Department of Health," said David Scarpino, President and CEO of HealthAlliance. "Like us, the Department of Health sees the critical need for this effort and I would like to thank New York State for its steadfast support.

"The new hospital, with a projected completion in 2020, is expected to usher in a new era of healthcare in Kingston and the surrounding areas," Scarpino said.

The new HealthAlliance Hospital effort and the planned consolidation of all HealthAlliance inpatient and emergency services in that re-created Mary's Avenue hospital are the first part of a multiyear, $133.6 million Healthy Neighborhood Initiative project. The project will also redevelop the current HealthAlliance Hospital: Broadway Campus into a "medical village" -- an innovative focal point for the city's health and related needs. Of the $133.6 million total, $88.8 million of the multiphase project's funding will come from the New York State Capital Restructuring Financing Program, with the balance coming from WMCHealth, HealthAlliance and a capital fundraising campaign.

"Our plan is for HealthAlliance to be in Kingston, reliably serving the community, for generations to come," said Michael D. Israel, President and CEO of WMCHealth. "The project is a bold embodiment of WMCHealth's commitment to state-of-the-art construction and technology, coupled with the highest standards of service, clinical quality and patient safety. Patients from elsewhere will undoubtedly choose to travel to Kingston because of the clinical expertise and quality of care they'll receive, and local residents will be able to stay local and know they too will get the most advanced care right here, close to home, in one of the most progressive community hospitals in the country."

Israel added: "By making these investments, we are investing not just in healthier communities, with expanded healthcare offerings. We are also investing in Kingston, Ulster County and its residents."

Standard administrative contingencies, such as the submission of construction drawings for the expanded HealthAlliance Hospital project on Mary's Avenue, are expected to be met in the next six months. The application to convert HealthAlliance Hospital: Broadway Campus into a medical village still awaits state approval.

Other WMCHealth investments in the Hudson Valley include a $40 million expansion of Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis that will also include a medical village and a just-completed $8 million renovation of MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie. WMCHealth is also investing $230 million on its flagship campus in Valhalla, with the construction of the 280,000 square-foot Ambulatory Care Pavilion, Westchester County's largest healthcare construction project in decades.