Once the expansion at Cambridge Memorial Hospital is complete, it will feature a new birthing unit, 54 more general beds, an emergency room twice the size of the current one, and other improvements.
But when will that happen?
Originally, the new emergency room was supposed to be ready for the public this summer.
Now, hospital officials say the construction company won’t turn it over to them until late June – after which there will still have to be work done inside to get it ready for patients.
“Currently the project’s a little bit behind,” says James Hildebrand, the hospital’s director of capital redevelopment.
There’s another problem looming on the horizon, too: The full renovation will cost $50 million, and only $40 million has been raised to this point.
The fundraising is being spearheaded by the Cambridge Memorial Hospital Foundation.
Its board chair, Surekha Shenoy, suspects that many people in the community don’t realize money is still needed for the project.
The renovation project also calls for the hospital to add five more beds apiece for mental health and intensive care purposes.
“We’ve had a lot of the teams go through the space, and they’re really starting to get excited about it,” Hildebrand says.
Once the new wing has been built, part of the existing building will be closed for renovations.
The entire $250-million project is expected to wrap up by March 2019.
With reporting by Abigail Bimman
