FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Thursday, February 10, 2005
Bellevue Hospital Opens New Ambulatory Care Pavilion
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DASNY Is City Hospitals’ Construction Partner
NEW YORK – Bellevue Hospital Center, America's oldest public hospital, opened its new Ambulatory Care Pavilion today, its first new building 1973.
The $115 million development project was a partnership between the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY).
“The redesign of HHC's ambulatory care delivery system has been one of my highest priorities. Our new Ambulatory Care Pavilion is the cornerstone for such an effort. It represents a furtherance of our commitment to provide quality public healthcare to the New York City community,” said HHC President Dr. Benjamin Chu.
Douglas M. Van Vleck, Dormitory Authority Managing Director of Construction, said, “This project was five years in the making, not just to build an ambulatory care center, but also to renovate administrative space and create Bellevue’s grand entrance, which evolved into this wonderful atrium.” The atrium, with more than 4,500 pieces of glass curtain wall, envelops Bellevue’s Administration Building and its circa-1930 entrance, designed by McKim Mead & White.
The new pavilion links the past with the future with a breathtaking view. The grand translucent entryway draws the passerby's view into the building envelope and provides a glimpse into New York City's storied past. Containing more than 400 exam rooms, wired with state-of-the-art medical information systems and housing the new Bellevue Hospital Cancer Center, the Pavilion is located on First Avenue between 27th and 28th Street. A warm and welcoming space, it will serve as the main point of entry into the hospital campus.
“The design of this building is as bold and strong and significant as Bellevue's 269-year contribution to the people of the City of New York. The design enhances our ‘open access’ model of ambulatory care service delivery by merging Bellevue's structural capacity to meet the community demand. By bridging the contemporary with the historic, we are reinforcing Bellevue's vital presence within New York City,” said Carlos F. Perez, Executive Director of Bellevue Hospital Center.
Dr. Eric Manheimer, Medical Director of Bellevue Hospital Center, added, “The new ambulatory care building will provide attentive and state-of-the-art care to patients from all over the world who have made New York their home. Comprehensive technical and cognitive services will be provided in the full array of medical disciplines.”
Mr. Van Vleck acknowledged the contractors, tradespeople and laborers who worked on the building, led by construction manager Turner Construction Co. He also acknowledged the Dormitory Authority staff – HHC Construction Program Director Robert Walsh, Chief Project Manager Nicholas D’Ambrosio, Senior Project Manager Stefan Thiersch, Eduardo James, Colleen Parkinson, Ann Murray, and Field Representative Doug Como.
The vision of this project, according to Fara Tabaei, Project Executive, “was threefold: giving Bellevue a new, prominent face and entrance on the First Avenue corridor; designing a building that shows the strength of Bellevue's history and importance in today's healthcare arena; and to respect, preserve and reveal the beauty of the original McKim, Mead & White campus design.”
The Pavilion is the first modernization project that Pei Cobb Freed and Partners has designed for a public health care facility. Ian Bader, Design Partner, said, “For us, the principal architectural challenge has been the transformation of the close physical proximity between the new and existing buildings into a place of spatial and symbolic generosity. In bringing together new and old, the glazed atrium has become the emblematic heart of Bellevue. The configuration of this space makes the existing building the centerpiece of the entire complex and integrates the new facility into the daily life of the hospital.”
“The Ambulatory Care Department has a simple mission, and that is to deliver the quality of care that we would want to receive ourselves” said Dr. Machelle Allen, Director of Ambulatory Care Services. “Our new Pavilion will enable us to realize this mission in a therapeutic and healing environment.”
“The opening of the new Ambulatory Care Pavilion at Bellevue Hospital marks a significant milestone in the transformation of the public hospital system in New York City. With its many exam and treatment rooms incorporated into an efficient design, it will minimize patient waiting times and facilitate the provision of healthcare in a setting that inspires hope and well being. In accordance with HHC's ongoing mission to provide state-of-the-art therapeutic environments for all the people of New York, the new center is the first of several new facilities to be launched by HHC in 2005,” noted Phillip W. Robinson, Senior Vice President, HHC Facilities Development.
The new Ambulatory Care Pavilion will begin receiving patients in April.
For more information, contact Press Officer Claudia Hutton at (518) 257 3382 or CHutton@dasny.org; James N. Saunders, Esq. of Bellevue Hospital at (212) 562 4516 or Kate McGrath, HHC Director of Communications at (212) 788 3339.
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