Boston Medical Center is planning a three-year project to consolidate its two campuses and eliminate 60 patient beds, all while maintaining the same level of services, according to a Boston Globe report.
The $270 million construction and renovation project, expected to be complete in 2017, is a "belated culmination" of the two hospitals — Boston City Hospital and University Hospital — that merged in 1996 to create BMC.
Those hospitals integrated departments since their merger and have continued to provide care at both campuses, transporting some patients from one site to the other via a two-block ambulance ride. The consolidation is expected to save at least $25 million each year through energy efficiencies and the elimination of workarounds patterns, such as those ambulance trips.
Under the renovation plan, the Newton Pavilion on the former University Hospital campus will close and its two adjoining buildings will be sold. Eight operating rooms and 70 single rooms will be added to the former Boston City Hospital site. The emergency department would also be expanded by a third of its current size, according to the report.
The project still needs a determination of need certificate from the state Department of Public Health, but it has been approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, according to the report.
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