PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island Hospital’s plan for a massive renovation cleared its first hurdle Tuesday.
The Health Services Council voted to recommend the R.I. Department of Health approve Brown University Health’s proposal, in the form of a Certificate of Need, to conduct two projects to prepare the campus for future development, including constructing a new 185,000-square-foot Diagnostic and Treatment Platform building. Next, the Health Services Council must vote to adopt its report recommending the approval and RIDOH Director Dr. Jarome Larkin must approve the proposal before the project can begin.
The first of the two projects is relocating utility lines and the second involves renovating the Main Building to relocate and consolidate several imaging technologies located in the George/Meehan Building. The Post Anesthesia Care Unit would also be relocated closer to a new Level 3 Imaging room that will house a new Vascular and Interventional Radiology suite.
The hospital found that most of the George/Meehan Building is “beyond its useful life for modern health care, is a drain of hospital resources and impedes the ability to efficiently layout the hospital in a manner that would greatly improve patient care.” So, removing the George/Meehan Building, along with several others, will provide the space needed to build a new and more modern diagnostic and treatment building.
Both of these projects, which make up phase one of a multiphase project, are expected to have a minimal effect on patient care and the hospital doesn’t anticipate any large reduction in the level of services provided during construction. The projects are expected to cost a total of about $34 million to complete. Brown Health is funding the projects through an existing bond, as well as its own income. The health system is including the projects in its annual operating budget and expects to report a positive cash flow in fiscal year 2025.
Having earned the Health Services Council approval, these projects are expected to begin soon, Brown Health spokesperson Kelly Brennan said in a statement.
The renovation project is expected to take a decade to complete and will be done in three phases to reduce disruptions, with an overall goal to improve operations for patients, staff and the community, Brennan said.
Brown Health says it will likely file more Certificates of Need in the next two years for future phases of the project, with the final being a proposal for the Diagnostic and Treatment Platform Building.
(Second paragraph subbed to CORRECT that the Health Services Council voted to recommend the R.I. Department of Health approve Brown University Health’s proposal.)
Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com.
