By Deacon James N. Dunbar
FALL RIVER, Mass. — Their enthusiasm not dampened by Monday’s rain, Saint Anne’s Hospital officials broke ground on an all-new, state-of-the-art Emergency Department and expanded Surgical Center they say will accommodate patient demand and new technology.
The $19.6 million project will double the hospital’s capacity to care for emergency patients and add a suite of new operating rooms, post-anesthesia care units and related renovations.
“These projects are the realization of a vision and a true demonstration of Saint Anne’s longtime commitment to our community,” said Craig A. Jesiolowski, hospital president, who presented a project overview and the impact on the community.
“When the Dominican Sisters started taking care of patients at Saint Anne’s more than 100 years ago, they did so in service to the community. The new Emergency Department and Surgical Center will be an extension of that same noble commitment and enable us to do so in a modern, spacious and comfortable environment.”
The projects, scheduled for completion in mid-2011, are the first of seven Caritas Christi infrastructure improvements to break ground. They are spread among six Caritas Christi hospitals including Brockton, Dorchester, Norwood, Boston and Methuen. They total 117,000 square feet and represent a capital investment of more than $100 million.
The construction is projected to create more than 4,300 new jobs.
The current Emergency Department, constructed more than 30 years ago, was meant to accommodate 20,000 patients yearly. Currently it handles 36,000 annually.
Similar increases in surgical cases and advanced surgical equipment and technology require the proposed increased spaces.
Dominican Sister of the Presentation Vimala Vadakumpadan, chairman of Saint Anne’s Hospital’s Board of Trustees, told The Anchor, “These additions will make it possible to reach out to many, many more people than when we began in 1906. That was our first vision, and our mission continues with the help of our many employees, with the same vigor. Our ministry is to heal … with the same passion that we have maintained throughout those many years. These new facilities will enable us to sustain the mission ever better than before. Today is a proud moment for us.”