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2020 Vision: Chester County Hospital sets eyes on its largest expansion yet
In 2020, Chester County Hospital will complete a 250,000 square-foot expansion and 26,000 square-foot renovation plan that will make world-class health care accessible to all of Chester County.
The project will include 15 state-of-the-art operating rooms, three high-tech labs for cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology, and new areas for interventional cardiology and pre-admission testing. These additions will aid the hospital’s nationally recognized medical staff, nurses, and care teams in providing the highest quality care possible to patients.
The expansion will also include a 99-bed tower featuring private patient rooms for peaceful healing, an expanded Emergency Department with 13 additional rooms for expedited care, a new community pharmacy, calming public spaces and interior courtyard, and additional dining and shopping options in the new café bistro and gift shop.
Collaboration and Planning
Planning an expansion of this size and complexity requires consensus building among multiple stakeholders. To get a true idea of the time and effort that has been invested, imagine the undertaking as an iceberg and the construction as the tip that sits above the water’s surface. We physically only see a small part of the larger picture.
For more than two years, beginning in 2015, the hospital engaged architects, clinicians, and other stakeholders to seek their input on areas throughout the hospital, including the operating rooms, Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, Intensive Care Unit, patient rooms, and Emergency Department. Both 3D models and full-scale mock-ups were utilized to test and ensure that the design was optimized for the experience of both the medical provider and the patient.
The planning committee also incorporated concepts from evidence- based design to plan for the ultimate healing environment. For example, operational flow mapping from the patient experience perspective revealed opportunities to eliminate unnecessary steps, allowing caregivers to provide more effective direct patient care.
The design meetings concluded before the start of construction. Similar planning sessions are expected to begin in the coming months, but this time they will address how to best incorporate new and updated spaces into the rest of the hospital so they function seamlessly.
Designing a Better Space for Healing
The expansion will promote an environment that fosters healing by giving patients and their families choice and control, and offers care providers a compelling place to work.
This new space will resonate with the needs of patients, families, and medical providers and will support the values of a community-based hospital. Chester County will benefit from having urban innovation right here in the suburbs. The expansion will allow more space for the most sophisticated medical procedures, provide more personalized care for inpatients, increase the patient care space in the Emergency Department, and allow local residents and the surrounding communities to stay close to home to receive the highest quality of care.
“The community we serve relies on our mission-based approach to care, our reputation for quality, and our history of providing advanced clinical services,” said Michael J. Duncan, President and CEO of Chester County Hospital.
“This expansion project, which is a testament to Chester County Hospital’s partnership with Penn Medicine, highlights the hospital’s and the health system’s commitments to expand lifesaving treatments and programs in the community. The venture also accommodates anticipated growth and will continue the hospital’s movement towards world-class health care for all of Chester County,” Michael added.
It is an elegant, forward-looking design rooted in the hospital’s architectural tradition as well as its lasting mission: To be the leading provider of care in the region and a national model for quality, service excellence, and fiscal stewardship.
For more information, visit ChesterCountyHospital.org/Expansion
