N.J. Hospital Modernization

NEWARK, N.J. — Phase one of a $225 million master planned construction project that will address the future needs of an outdated medical center is under way.

 

Saint Michael’s Medical Center in Newark, N.J., is a 357-bed hospital, teaching and research facility that was established in 1867. The medical center’s nine buildings, which total 750,000 square feet, are on average 66 years old. Phase one of the construction will add 220,000 square feet of new space, increasing the existing campus by 10 percent.

 

The project includes building a 120,000-square-foot, $48 million tower that will link the hospital’s main facility and the historic Annex Building. A new medical office building and 450-car parking garage are also part of phase one. Occupancy is slated for summer 2012.    

 

“Our master plan centers around the tower building, which gives the hospital a true ‘hub’ of a 21st-century medical center,” says James Crispino, president of New York-based Francis Cauffman Architects, which is serving as project architect. “This focal point connects the existing buildings and creates a hospital that has greater capacity yet is more efficient, more compact, and easier for patients to use.”

 

Added to the four-story tower will be an expanded emergency department, clinical services, and three floors of beds. A lobby and patient access center, gift shop, and auditorium will also be built. Looking toward the future, the tower building can expand vertically three more stories. The medical office building will contain physician offices, ambulatory services, and ground-level retail space.

 

Future phases include demolition of three older buildings. Developers plan to construct a new medical education building, a cancer center, and St. Michael’s Court, a new vehicle entrance to the campus. Additionally, some of the campuses historic hospital buildings will be converted into retail space, administrative offices, and living quarters for medical residents.

 

Exponential growth in the community as well as numerous facility closings resulting in reductions in services at Essex County hospitals have resulted in increased demands on SMMC. The new project is designed to address the immediate needs of the community while allowing for future growth.

 

Francis Cauffman coordinated its master planning efforts with the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Newark Museum, and Rutgers University as part of Newark’s $1 billion Broad Street Station District Redevelopment Plan.