For residents who have not seen The Villages Regional Hospital expansion site recently — the cranes are down. The second of the two giant cranes, which have been part of our skyline for most of this past year, are history.
“It was time for the last crane to come down,” Central Florida Health Alliance chairman Don Hahnfeldt said. “It just wasn’t needed any longer — and despite higher than average rain fall volume this past summer, phase I of the project is on schedule.” The $50 expansion effort is well timed in line with current and future population expansion as The Villages and surrounding communities continue to grow.
Workers and materials now ascend the structure via an exterior elevator with a large red enclosed cab — and as interior drywall and layouts are completed, there is access to the active construction area from the inside as well. Scaffolding is still in place, but much of the facade of the new construction has been completed and is ready for painting.
The five-story north tower will add additional inpatient and surgical beds, plus a new intensive care unit (ICU). During the summer of 2015, a new rehabilitation facility will be designed for the fifth floor of the new tower — to open mid-2016.
In true Villages fashion, some new patient care employees have already been hired in anticipation of the opening, and other resumes have been collected via job fairs and other online resources, to be prepared as services expand and more workers are needed.. As with any busy acute care hospital, employees have active schedules — but there is a high level of cooperation among staffers, which leads to polite customer service and a high quality of patient care.
Phase II, targeted for August 2015 completion, will double the size of the existing emergency room and add more operating rooms — additions that are eagerly awaited and in much demand to serve the growing community. A rehabilitation unit will be developed on the fifth floor, and space to house outpatient services will be centered on the north side of the tower.Upon completion, hospital square footage will total nearly 383,000. Phase III is aimed at expanding parking for facility employees and will encompass spaces for cars across the highway at the east campus building as well.
