Englewood Hospital and Medical Center is ready to become a major league player in the region when it comes to providing health care.
|
Staff Photo By Joe Camporeale
Bill Kaplan speaks briefly about Englewood Hospital and Medical Center’s campaign to spend $35 million to upgrade the emergency department.
|
Hospital executives, surrounded by major donors, broke ground last week on the new $35 million emergency department, which will bare the name of the largest donor to the project, the Kaplans.
The Kaplan Pavilion promises to bring the latest emergency department technology to the hospital as it continues to improve all aspect of care for patients that visit in a time of need, executives said.
The multi-million dollar project, funded with donations, will boast a 35,000 square-foot building. It will replace the outdated emergency department that executives said fails to meet the growing demands of providing emergency services.
"This new emergency department will create a springboard for growth not only for the emergency department but for outpatient and inpatient care as well," hospital President and CEO Douglas A. Duchak said.
Hospital executives were confident that this dramatic change to current care should enable the medical center to be a leader in the New York/new Jersey region, while other hospitals struggle to survive.
During the ground breaking ceremony executives noted that 15 years ago New Jersey had more than 100 hospitals. Today, they said there was 76.
Englewood hospital has managed to stay out of financial troubles that have gripped its peers as visits to the medical center continue to climb year after year. Executives project that the new emergency department will be able to accommodate the 50,000 visitors expected to walk through the doors in the coming years.
"You must grow or you won’t survive," he said. "The new emergency department will create a springboard for growth. It will makes us a more thriving organization."
The hospital foundation has received roughly $16 million from donors thus far, and expects to collect the rest to pay for the project.
With the ground breaking out of the way construction is expected to start soon with a projected completion date of Sept. 14, 2009.
Bill and Maggie Kaplan, who gave $5 million for the campaign, were recognized during the ceremony.
Bill spoke briefly about the importance of upgrading the emergency department for the patients and the staff.
But on a somber note, he took a moment to speak about his dad.
"I wish my father was here today," he said. "Like me he was a builder and he would have been proud to see its size."
E-mail: lang@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6710
