BANGOR, Maine — Eastern Maine Medical Center will build a seven-story tower at its State Street campus as part of a $250 million project described as the largest ever undertaken by the hospital’s parent organization.
The board of directors for Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, of which EMMC is a member, gave final approval to the project Tuesday, more than five years after plans were first presented.
In addition to demolishing the hospital’s Stetson building to make way for the tower, plans call for adding more than a dozen operating suites, boosting the number of private patient rooms, updating cardiac and obstetrics services, and relocating the neonatal intensive care unit.
The project is imperative for EMMC, which serves more than 40 percent of the state’s population as the only provider of many specialty medical services, including trauma and advanced critical care, in the region, said Deborah Carey Johnson, the hospital’s president and CEO.
“Without this project, specialty care in northern and eastern Maine would really be at risk,” she said.
The tower project is one of the most ambitious tackled by a Maine hospital in recent years. It’s smaller than MaineGeneral’s pursuit of a $300-plus million hospital in Augusta, but dwarfs Maine Medical Center’s plan for a $40 million expansion and update of several operating rooms. Also in Portland, Mercy Hospital has been shifting its services to a new campus on the Fore River, a multi-year project pegged at $162 million.
The most recent significant construction project at EMMC’s State Street campus was a $16 million, five-story parking garage that opened in 2009.
EMMC has focused more on outpatient services in recent years, with the construction of its health care mall on Union Street and, in 2000, of the Kagan building at its main campus, Johnson said.
“Where we’ve fallen behind a bit is on our inpatient campus,” she said.
The outpatient additions were significant, but the tower project approved this week represents a milestone for EMHS, she said.
EMHS is one of the state’s largest healthcare systems, counting not only seven hospitals among its members but also numerous home health organizations and several physician groups and nursing homes.
Space constraints now limit the hospital to using about 350 inpatient beds, well short of the 411 beds it’s licensed for, Johnson said. When 90 percent or more of those available beds are full, patients sometimes face long waits for admission to the emergency room or to referring hospitals in the area.
With the new tower, EMMC will be able to operate at full capacity, she said. That means the hospital will need to hire about 50 more physicians, both primary care and specialists, as well as more nurses and support staff, Johnson said.
With the board’s unanimous vote Tuesday, EMMC is ready to secure financing for the tower project. The hospital in 2008 won the needed state approval from the Department of Health and Human Services’ certificate of need unit, which evaluates whether proposed health care projects meet patient demand for medical services.
The hospital requested a one-year extension in September 2009 and has since taken preparatory steps, including electrical and utility work on site.
The hospital hopes to have financing lined up by the end of the year. The Stetson building is scheduled for demolition next spring, followed by the first phase of construction, a roughly two-year process to build the shell of the tower.
The full project, expected to cost about $247 million, is scheduled to be completed in 2017, Johnson said.
DHHS’ approval stipulates that EMMC can rely on debt to finance no more than 80 percent of the project’s total capital costs.
EMMC plans to fundraise $20 million to $30 million, and collect the rest of the money through existing and anticipated surplus dollars and other financing. Some of the proceeds from last week’s $17 million sale of the hospital’s dialysis clinics to national chain DaVita Inc. will also help to fund the project, Johnson said.
Philip Caper, a Brooklin physician who serves as one of roughly 200 EMHS “corporators” on a volunteer board, said he’s concerned that the expensive project could drive up hospital debt and, subsequently, health care costs for patients.
The new construction appears to be weighted toward lucrative, high-tech services such as imaging and surgery, he said.
“How does this comport with EMHS’ stated goal of increased emphasis on primary care?” he wrote in an email.
Caper is a columnist for the Bangor Daily News and a founding board member of Maine AllCare, a nonprofit group committed to universal, affordable health care.
The new tower will house advanced health care services that have outgrown the nearly 40-year-old Grant building on the EMMC campus, Johnson said.
The hospital will replace 11 outdated operating suites with 14 new suites that can accommodate robotic surgery, computer-assisted equipment, and other modern medical techniques, she said. Several outpatient operating rooms will be updated so they can be used interchangeably for inpatient procedures, as well, she said.
“That will allow a lot more flexibility for the functioning of the operating rooms,” Johnson said.
Many cardiac services will be relocated to the new tower. The neonatal intensive care unit, which now shares spaces with obstetrics in the Grant building, will move to the tower’s seventh floor. That will allow obstetrics to expand in its current location and become an updated labor and delivery center with all private rooms for expectant mothers, Johnson said.
In all, EMMC will add 73 private rooms for patients, she said.
Services housed in the single-story Stetson building near the hospital’s entrance, including the hearing center and pharmacy, will be relocated.
EMMC is shoring up an access road behind the hospital to facilitate construction.
“There will be a need to reroute traffic, so we’ll be working closely with our staff and the city to accomplish that,” Johnson said.
DHHS required EMMC to commit to using green building methods in constructing the tower project.
The hospital’s commitment to modernizing its facilities will not only benefit patients, but will also help EMMC to attract and retain top-notch physicians who need space to do their work, Johnson said.
“We don’t have adequate facilities to accomplish the services for patients that only we provide” in the region, she said.
A seven-story building is a “tower”?
Only in Maine.
A tower crane will be used to build it, so it will be of significant height, probably around 100 feet.
who is the general contractor?
I don’t know. But a worker for Arc Erecting told me this past spring that Arc would be doing the ironwork and use a tower crane.
mitchel
Does Cainbro own the hospital?
maine med in portland has 11 story richards wing i was a patient on nineth floor it was for cardiac
Don’t you know? Seven stories is all the ultra libs will allow. It’s their world, we just live in it.
Archatecurally, seven stories is as high as a building should be to insure maximum safety. It has nada to do with what ‘the ultra libs’ will allow.
Ever been to any other city outside Maine? Seven stories is not a large building, it is certainly NOT a “tower”.
only in Maine? have you been anywhere else?
yup
Hey, EMMC, how about expanding your ER so that patients don’t have to be examined in the hallways?
yah they should also they should upgrade from level 2 trauma to level 1 a full trauma center while they are at it.
Part of the problem in the ER is there are those who need to be admitted, however there are not enough beds at given times, so they have to wait to be admitted, sometimes for long periods. While they are waiting to be admitted, they are stuck in the ER, thus taking up a room, thus others who are there to be seen, and are less urgent because they do not need to be admitted, have to wait. Work has been done to open up more rooms, but it is an ever occurring problem, and this project will also open up more rooms, and thus will theoretically decrease the wait time and the crowd in the ER.
Or from what I’ve heard from charge nurses who work at EMMC, close beds on the floors due to understaffing, thus having to turn away ER patients who are waiting to be admitted…..just saying….
Would those be union nurses trying to run done the place where they work. Yeah that’s a good idea. Bad talk the place where you work and then whine about losing your job because patients go elsewhere.
Um, no. Actually this nurse was pretty upset about it and found it quite embarassing. They left that department a while ago by choice. And this discussion was between two nurses who both had worked for the company at one time together.
Probably another part of the reason why it takes so long to be seen in the Emergency Room are some people’s inability to define ’emergency’. People with common colds, flu, earache, headaches, minor injuries, ext.. that aren’t posing any real immediate threat to their health would be better served by their PCP or a walk-in clinic. The ER team has to make life-threatening emergencies a priority and that’s why many people with more minor issues have to wait, especially on a busy night.
Agreed, but to teach the masses to follow this rule of thumb is a never ending battle. I have tried to get into my PCP for a “severe cold, head, cough” and they couldn’t get me in, however it was also causing me respiratory distress as i have asthma and get bronchitis easily. I, knowing better, went to WIC. waited a long time, and had a sinus infection, bronchitis, and thrush. point is, i went the proper route, tried pcp, next went to wic. if i coudln’t get into there i would have gone to the er because of the breathing issues, however at that point i may have tried to wait out for the pcp if i didn’t have respiratory issues. others don’t do this. Managed MaineCare also won’t pay for walk in care if they go there and there was an opening at their pcp. some of those patients dont want to go to their pcp or wait the extra hour for that appointment even if it means waiting 3 in the er. if they go to the er, it does get paid because it can’t be refused.
if your pcp can’t see you in a situation where you need to get in for your issues when they are one step down from going to the ER, then, you need a new pcp. one who cares about his/her patients.
Those were the OLD days viper, as far as a PCP who cared about their patient. Now almost all PCPs operate out of a clinic setting, which blows major chunks, and it’s all about numbers…how many patient’s can be squeezed into a certain time slot.
I recently went to that PCHC Brewer dump, and yes it is a dump no matter how fancy the facade may be, and there’s a big sign greeting patients at the front door that says something like, “$75 due at time of appointment for all self-pay patients.” No matter how wrong it is, you will never see a sign like that at the front door of an ER.
I do believe I watched a drug deal go down right outside their front door amongst a cluster of “clients” waiting for the bus, who were ALL smoking right under the “No smoking sign.” As I waited in my car for a family member, I watched incoming patients cautiously go around this group of winners. I was very upset to see a lady, most likely immunocompromised as she was wearing a face mask and head scarf, who had to walk through that mess, that I called their office. I explained what I was witnessing. When asked to give my name (which I refused to do because staff has access to medical records/priviledged info/fear of retribution) I was laughed at.
Clean it up EMHS. Here’s a tip. Start with doing background checks on your non-clinical staff that are able to gain access to very private information.
PCHC is a federally-funded healthcare facility who receives MANY federal dollars to help patients who cannot afford treatment. If the $75 is an issue, there are people to talk to about receiving assistance.
Another thought, what type of retribution did you think you were going to receive by reporting suspicious characters? An egging of your house? An erasure of an allergy off your chart? Though I do not condone anyone who is supposed to be in a professional setting laughing at someone, how do they know you weren’t just someone trying to make trouble? If you are that upset, I would suggest calling and asking to speak with someone in public relations.
true
go to the EMFP, you will be seen by someone the same day!!!!if your a patient of the practice~
There are a few things I should explain. If you are so sick that you are one step away from the ER, then the ER is exactly where you need to be. Services needed for acute care, such as lab tests, xrays or CT scans, are not available at a family doctor’s office. You would be putting yourself in more danger by delaying treatment coming into the office only to be sent to the ER when you should have been there to begin with. This is where patient education needs to take place so people such as yourself don’t assume your provider just doesn’t give a crap and is blowing you off. They’re doing it for your safety.
just wait for obama care to kick in. you ain’t seen nothing yet.
ERs around the country are crowded because of uninsured people showing up there with non-emergencies. Insuring the uninsured will alleviate much of the crowding — one of the principal rationales for the Affordable Health Care Act passed by Congress and signed into law by the President.
I hope it works.
Yeah. About that…
The CBO estimates 30 million people will remain uninsured.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/11/07/obamacare-extends-health-benefits-to-30-million-but-what-if-people-dont-sign-up/
I worked in an ER, and it’s not just the uninsured. It’s pretty hard to stay sympathetic to those with or without insurance who show up on a Sunday night at 10pm with a complaint of knee pain that they’ve had for 3 weeks. Why not wait until the next am to call their primary providers when the office is open? (and yes, these people had doctors) It’s an abuse of the system and an unnecessary desire for instant gratification. These visits cost everyone money, make premiums go up, and tie the ERs up for true emergencies. Then people complain about a three-hour wait. Seriously, if people really knew the percentage of non-emergencies, like colds, that people show up in an ER for they would be disgusted.
There’s a market for evening family practice. I mean, my VET here in TN stays open until 8PM Mon-Friday! Even my pharmacist was working a typical long day today until 9PM. But many doctors close up shop by 5PM with few, or no, weekend hours.
I think that would help alleviate the ER non-crises. I loved Miller Drug’s old motto — “Because sickness never takes a holiday.” And it sure as heck doesn’t keep bankers’ hours, either.
Many practices are moving in that direction. A lot of them are now open 7 days/wk and have evening hours. You are right, though. Extended hours will prevent a lot of overflow into the ERs.
You got that one.
If you’ve served in the military you have experienced ” hurry up and wait ” !
When there are no appointments available (because they truly are chock-a-block full, not because they just choose not to see you), would you like them to cancel appointments others have made so they can fit you in? If every provider is back-to-back booked with patients, I’m not sure what you expect them to do. So you go to the WIC or the ER. You did the right thing.
if 1/2 of them were paying for it themselves, they wouldn’t visit the emergency room for sniffles.
A lot of them are paying for it themselves, which is why they are forced to visit emergency room instead of making a doctor’s visit.
Walk-in care closes at 7 on Union Street. And most of the time, if you try to get into your doctor for a same-day appointment you’re told to go to walk-in care. The BEST thing EMMC can do is establish two same-day type facilities at the new building: One an ER for emergencies, and one a 24-hour “walk-in” care type unit for the lesser-degree health issues (colds/flu, broken limbs, etc…) Two units. Fully staffed. People treated based on health situation … would be an easy solution to this chronic problem. The times I’ve had to take my kids to ER because of broken limbs or asthma or severe headaches, I’ve always thought about this … what if there were TWO separate units…
they did have urgent care at emmc at one time
They tried that. I was there one day years ago when a young girl came to the urgent care department and was told she would have to wait a half hour or so. She became irate and stormed out saying that she was going to the ER.
That is what happens when people do not have access to healthcare. They cannot afford a primary care physician or a walk-in clinic. When the uniformed say they don’t want to pay for universal healthcare they fail to realize that desperate people end up taking desperate, often late, action by going to the ER. This cost is passed along to everyone. I cannot figure out why this is so hard to understand. So if you want to reduce the load on ER services and the overall cost of medical care support universal healthcare for all Americans. In the end it will cost Americans much less than the current system plus, people will live healthier more productive lives, giving back to all Americans in the process. Universal healthcare is a win/win situation all around.
Add to that, the ever-growing population with undermet mental health needs. They don’t need medical help, they need mental health help, and they find themselves in an ER not equipped to handle their needs and often no beds available ANYWHERE IN THE ENTIRE STATE, so they get stuck waiting in the ER until one opes up somewhere, even if it’s hundreds of miles away.
Some folks with mental-health issues are admitted to a psychiatric hospital through a case-worker, crisis center, therapist, ect… If there is an emergency and the person is a danger to themselves or others, a psych hospital may require the patient to be medically cleared and/or medically stabilized before a transfer can occur?
I’d be willing to bet that the $35. to $50. dollar a week pack a day habit could go a long way toward paying for some type of health plan. Throw in another $50. bucks a month for the unnecessary texting machine and you’ve already got between $190. and $250. a month with which to buy health coverage……..Priorities.
In addition to their….. Booze, Pot Smoking, Bingo, Slots, Gambling Joints, Pig outs in restaurants, Bar hoping, and the other vices that downgrade one”s health!!!! Yep that $ would go a long way toward a health plan!! like you…Priorities NOT
If you don’t have a full time -living wage job, about $20/hour around Bangor, then you cannot afford to even think about paying for healthcare.
I agree with you. I don’t really know a lot about Obamacare/Universal Health-care, but based on what I do know – its unfortunate that more of that plan isn’t being implemented. People just seem to want to fight it but then get upset when they’re in pain for months because they have a toothache and can’t afford to pay the tip-top price of going to a dentist. Doesn’t make much sense. With the baby-boomers on the verge of retirement and my generation predicted to have a shorter life expectancy than our parents(due to very expensive and chronic illnesses like diabetes) coupled with rising health-care costs, I can’t see how the health-care thing can get any better without drastic change. Hopefully, change is on the horizon….
Until I read this, I didn’t think it was possible for that hideous behemoth to look any worse. But it sounds like they’re gearing up to add yet another mis-mash block to their industrial looking campus. I think the mill in Lincoln looks better than that hospital.
So then what do you think it should look like? Give me a break will you!
It would be nice if the campus looked like it were built with some sort of plan in mind. Just saying.
Yeah wish the people back in 1890 had the forethought so that it could all look cohesive.
Right, because the parking garage, the Webber building and the main EMMC building were all built in 1890?
Good next time you need medical assistance go to the Lincoln Mill.
Seems funny,just not to long ago EMMC was losing money. Now they want to borrow millions? Just a prime example between Hospitals and Insurance companies are the biggest reasons health care costs are so high in this country.
You’ve got that right! Didn’t they offer some employees early retirement? They cried foul with the nurses too. Something doesn’t smell right.
Of course it doesn’t smell right, because it isn’t right. Universal healthcare would eliminate regional hospital competition, redundant services within a regional area, for profit hospitals, for profit insurance companies, excessive and expensive use of ER facilities, it would cut recurring visits because a patient could be treated properly/long term with their appropriate pharmaceutical needs being met, and the resulting healthy people would be able to contribute more to society. The people who cry about Obama Care and escalating healthcare costs are grossly mistaken if they think they are saving money by denying people healthcare because some cannot afford it. What their handlers, the GOP, really want is the “for profit” part to remain intact regardless of what happens to those who cannot afford it. So the GOP lies to their sheep by telling them it will cost more to provide universal healthcare, or that the working poor do not deserve healthcare because they are lazy etc., or that it is unpatriotic, indeed unAmerican, to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves. And the GOP herd of sheep buy into this lying rhetoric. Meanwhile the people who run or own the healthcare related companies and the health insurance companies, they are all laughing at the ignorance of these sheep as they stroll to the bank.
Did you happen to vote yes on all the bond issues which we have to borrow 76 million? Sounds like a hypocrite to me!
I voted no on all but the transportation bond. Our roads are a joke.
The biennial transportation bonds are driven by an organization called the Maine Better Transportation Association. This outfit is comprised almost entirely of companies which ALWAYS profit from these transportation bonds. Yes, our roads need fixing but our bond requests shouldn’t be “fixed” by a self promoting lobby group.
I voted no on any borrowing of money,like I always do. Someone with common sense doesn’t assume how someone voted. You should put a no in front of your name.
Finally someone gets down to the roots. Walking through EMMC, which I avoid as much as possible, I’m amazed at the amount of wasted space that is declared to be ‘asthetically soothing to patients”. Most patients see the inside of their rooms and the outside through any window easily accessible from their rooms. I’m always curious as to how many patient rooms could have been built, how many nurses could have been paid, etc. instead of this ‘asthetically soothing’ waste. And here we go again.
Sounds like a great plan!
I cannot imagine how the numbers work and can support the huge expansions that are either in progress or being planned. Check out the current project under way in the Augusta area 50 miles away to the tune of a $ 322 million “budget” which will end up costing how much?
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2011/09/22/health/work-starts-on-new-312m-central-maine-hospital/
that hospital will have less then 200 beds when finished . actually 192 beds
not true!
How did you come up with those figures?
The story. He’s not talking about EMMC.
you are completely incorrect….check your facts before you post
Many times the costs of construction are somewhat less when building new as compared to refurbishing or in this case building new and restructuring current buildings and site together…the areas in the current hospital being replaced by new will need to be updated and restructured for continued & future use at a cost……also, removing a building as in this case at EMMC has an associated cost that would not be present if starting with a clear slate…..also, relocating services as in this case will require more monies allocated to those areas being moved to restructure for future use…..the cost of new vs: remodeling can sometimes offer alternatives that at face value don’t make sense money wise….
the tower has a nice look to it but it is being built infront of the grant tower..
73 patient rooms ALL private
“seven-story tower”
um… that’s not really much of a “tower”
What an exciting project! I hope it goes well!!!
Well hopefull Grant 7 will be relocated. That’s a long distance for mom’s to walk to the NICU. I am sure they would like their newborns close by. Hopefully, a geropysch floor as well. (like MMC)
You must mean the continuing care nursery on the 8th floor? The NICU is in the middle of the 7th floor.
I’m not sure what you mean? If they move the NICU to the new tower will moms be close to their newborn?
No the NICU is currently on the 7th floor (maternity) but a continuing care nursery-sort of a step up for less-ill infants) is on the pediatric floor on the 8th level. I was trying to see what communityeffortneeded meant by the long walk because the actual NICU is right in the middle of the maternity floor.
this smells like a way to shift money into the construction company hands again..at the expense of patients and staff…wasnt brewer supposed to solve the space issue??
No doubt this is needed, but we will always face needing to go to Maine Medical or Boston for certain treatments. Likely it will always be that way.
I hope they can find a few more doctors that can speak English.
And when you don’t understand those doctors who don’t fluently speak English and you say, “what” a couple of times, you score the label of “hard of hearing.”
:-D
you have the right to refuse to be seen by then ______I would NOT take my dog to THEM!!
Oh, you mean the middle Eastern doctors? Your racist is showing. It’s ok to just come out and say it.
Meanwhile, most healthcare facilities are LAYING OFF STAFF but they can find MILLIONS to construct buildings that will have no one to work in them. OH WAIT, yes they will. Administration is still strong and fully staffed. I forget, more Chiefs than Braves
Building an empire . . .
New buildings, highly paid executives who have no interaction with patients, limitless money spent on PR and advertising. You wonder why your health insurance is so expensive?
Your first sentence has absolutely nothing to do with the cost of health insurance …
Pretty buildings DO NOT provide better care. They shoulod spend their spare millions on healthcare instead of wealthcare. EMHC is a money making conglomerate. That is all that is on the mind of their board of directors. They have bought out Northeast Cardiology and has already tod the doctors that they cannot practice at St. Joes. EMHC’s one aim is to close down St. Joes and they are working toward that end. It’s all about money. They hate hearing people talk about the better treatment at St. Joes and the cleanliness of the hospital. If hospitals were required to report all the instances of infection, you would see EMHC at the top of the list. If they are smart, the new “tower” rooms will all have round corners because housekeeping doesn’t know how to clean regular corners.
Phantom you should get your facts straight. EMMC has not told the NECA docs they cannot practice at SJH. The will still be practicing there. What benefit would it serve for them to say that…so SJH could send their patients to Waterville or Portland? If you’re going to spout off, know what you are talking about or at least say something that makes a LITTLE bit of sense.
How about they spend that much money on making their surgery practices better so they can stop messing up surgeries? or hiring a few more nurses so patients don’t have to wait for an hour to get seen. Just throwing that out there… no mean to hate, I just think that 250 million dollars could be spent better. maybe bringing new equipment in for better facilities or practices. So, instead of finding a way to house more people, they can work on getting people out of there sooner so people can stop wasting time and money sitting there in beds and get back to living their lives.
Nice to see Bangor people complaining about something other than the election. Aaaaaand we’re back to normal. :P
Any questions why health care is so expensive?
Does anyone really think that current crop of uninsured individuals if suddenly insured under single payer, Obama Care, or with private insurance subsidized by taxing the wealthy will magically stop using the ER for routine medical concerns?
Most uninsured (and note, I said most–not all) are uninsured for a reason. Having high fiscal IQs , an excellent grasp of self health care, exhibiting exemplary personal responsibility and behavior, and being overly concerned stewards of government and their and other’s resources are unfortunately, not the reasons they are uninsured. Once they are insured they will only increase their visits to the ER as a political right.
I am sorry, but this in economic theory is the classic case of “moral hazards” that comes with providing overly generous insurance without asking the beneficiaries to assist in mitigating their risky behaviors.
what are you trying to say??? sounds like rambling to me
Guess who’s paying for this!
We are so very lucky to have EMMC in our community. I have had multiple surgeries/procedures done at EMMC since 1991, and I’ve gotten the best care anywhere including ER visits. We shouldn’t take the wonderful doctors, nurses, and other staff for granted.
you do mean the English speaking doctors don”t cha?
GM started out small, just like EMMC which is the largest employer in Bangor.
Rounding up the new PRIVATE rooms to 200, my math tells me that this amount to $1,250,000 per bed. Oh, wait, it has nothing to do with patient care in the long run! Silly me.
Re-reading this article, it reads like a “my hospital is better than your hospital” event; follow the money. EMMC reminds me of the Roman Empire; expand or die. I’d suggest they begin building with Legos; it would be SO much easier to play the ‘let’s redesign’ game.
and we wonder why health care is so expensive
As I age, these endeavours I find more interesting.