KINGSTON TO OUR HEALTH!
Hospital renovation starts; architectural drawings for new building ‘almost final’
The renovation of existing space that’s included in the planned $93 million upgrade of HealthAlliance Hospital’s Mary’s Avenue Campus has begun, but architectural plans for a new building on the property are not yet done, the company said Wednesday.
The architectural drawings “are almost final,” and bids for construction of the two-story building are to be sought beginning next month, HealthAlliance said in an email to the Freeman.
The project also still needs a building permit from the city of Kingston.
HealthAlliance broke ground for the new building during an October 2019 ceremony attended by New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul. The new build
“The renovation of ... patient units and other internal spaces is already underway...” — Statement from HealthAlliance
ing and the renovations in the hospital’s existing space are being funded largely by the state.
Hochul at the time touted various benefits of the project, including the creation of 1,000 construction jobs and the potential to attract new families to the area.
HealthAlliance said Wednesday that “preparations for the Mary’s Avenue transformation project are ongoing. Architectural drawings are almost final, and we collaborated with the city of Kingston on a stormwater pollution prevention plan, which the city approved Tuesday.”
“This plan approval is a key first step in applying for a city building permit,” the statement added.
Of work inside the existing hospital building, HealthAlliance said: “The renovation of ... patient units and other internal spaces is already underway, with special efforts taken to ensure the comfort and safety of patients, visitors and staff.”
The planned expansion of the Mary’s Avenue Campus, formerly called Benedictine Hospital, first was announced in 2013 but ultimately was scaled back in size by almost 30 percent. It now calls for a twostory, 79,000-square-foot structure comprising 175 new patient beds, mostly in private rooms; a new 25,000-square-foot emergency department, which will include cardiac observation and behavioral health services; and a 10bed intensive care unit, along with a six-bed medical “stepdown” unit that will provide an intermediate level of care between the ICU and the new building’s medical-surgical wards.
Also planned, according to HealthAlliance, are a new birthing center with “ultramodern labor, delivery and postpartum rooms”; a new imaging department; and remodeled centers for ambulatory surgery, infusion therapy and endoscopy.
The new building, initially planned to be four stories high, is be completed about two years after construction begins, according to HealthAlliance.
The existing hospital building is undergoing renovations to 48,000 square feet of space.
HealthAlliance, part of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, currently comprises two hospitals in Midtown Kingston, just half a mile from each other. The other, formerly Kingston Hospital, is called the Broadway Campus and is to be converted into a multidiscipline “health village” after all patientcare services are consolidated into the Mary’s Avenue complex.
The combined cost of the Mary’s Avenue and Broadway projects is estimated to be $134.9 million. Of that total, $88.8 million is coming from the state. The balance is coming from WMCHealth, HealthAlliance and a capital fundraising campaign.
Kingston and Benedictine hospitals affiliated under the HealthAlliance banner in 2009. Changes at the time included closing the Mary’s Avenue emergency room and expanding the one at the Broadway building; and consolidating all maternity services into the Broadway Campus.