Baystate unveil $296M expansion

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Baystate Medical Center is just days away from opening its $296 million expansion project.

22NEWS has an inside look at the new facilities.

For years, patients and their families, doctors, nurses and other staff at Baystate Medical Center have compiled somewhat of a wish list of ideas that would make the hospital run smoother.

On March second, many of those ideas will become reality.

BaystateMedical Center will open its MassMutual Wing and Davis Family Heart & Vascular Center.

Dr. Aaron Kugelmass, the hospital’s Chief of Cardiology said, “We had the opportunity that was very unique in that we got to start from scratch we weren't trying to fit something in to an older room we weren't trying to build a room alongside rooms we really wanted something that was truly best in class."

Mark Hirko of Baystate Medical Center’s Heart & Vascular Program told 22News, “We now have the capability to do everything in one visit. In the past, a patient would have to go from the doctor’s office to do a cat scan in another facility then maybe to another; we can now do everything at one visit and then at the end they can go home." 

The layout also minimizes noise by keeping patient rooms away from loud machines and busy areas.

The project executive, Stanley Hunter, said, “Both in equipment and in the layout of the rooms, we are leading nationally."

It’s also a green building; a lot of the equipment is energy efficient, it is also designed to let in as much natural light as possible.

The roof of the fourth floor has a garden; others are made from recycled tires.

The carpets and floors are also made of materials that don't require a lot of chemicals to clean.

Hurley said, "When we started this project we traveled around the country to look at other hospitals, how they do their surgery spaces and how they do their patient and there are things we took from those visits but we also used it as a launching pad to innovate and create the next generation of rooms."

This is only phase one of Baystate Medical Center's "Hospital of the Future" project.

The next part is a new emergency room which is set to open in the fall.