CRANSTON – A $42 million renovation project at Eleanor Slater Hospital’s Regan Building is scheduled to begin this fall.
Updates will include a new HVAC and fire protection system, dining areas and space for patient activities on each floor, sally ports, some private rooms, window and roof replacements, telephone and electrical distribution systems, and insulation on the exterior of the building, according to the R.I. Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals.
The Regan Building was built in 1981 and has not undergone any significant renovations, said Linda Reilly, a spokesperson for BHDDH.
The 19-month project will displace about 40 patients and more than 100 staff members, the hospital says. Regan’s 26-patient geriatric psychiatric unit will move to the Adolph Meyer Building at the Pastore Complex, and the building’s 14-patient, ventilator-dependent unit will go to space leased from the Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket.
Administrators are in the process of deciding where to temporarily relocate a CODAC center that is also housed in the Regan Building.
The project will be managed by the state Department of Administration’s Division of Capitol Asset Management and Maintenance and funded through certificates of participation and the Rhode Island Capital Plan Fund, Reilly said.
Emptying the building during the extensive project is a necessity, said BHDDH Director Rebecca Boss.
“Our first obligation is the health and safety of our patients and staff, which would be at risk if they remained in the building during the renovations,” Boss said in a statement. “That is why we are making these moves, which are intended to keep everyone safe with as little inconvenience as possible.”
