When United Hospital Center opened its new location in Bridgeport in 2010, the building was designed to facilitate growth. That fact alone shows officials expected it to come to the medical facility located just off Interstate 79.

 

Even with growth planned for and expected, what has taken place in the past 10 years is even more than some anticipated. And that has proven to be a good thing.

 

The latest round of growth is for $12.9 million. And the project will involve six stories of the building situated at 327 Medical Park Drive.

 

“We did anticipate expansion as the building is designed for it, but I don’t think anybody anticipated this much expansion this quick. This is a good thing,” said Geoff Marshall, UHC’s vice president of support services.

 

Bridgeport Community Development Director Andrea Kerr echoed those comments.

 

“I am sure when they decided to locate the hospital in Bridgeport they expected growth based solely on how they allowed the building to accommodate new growth in the design, but they may not have expected this much,” said Kerr. “This is smart development because they planned for it and set themselves up for success.”

 

Success is coming in the form of this major addition. The garden floor, or basement, will great space for support services storage for things, Marshall said, such as linen storage.

 

One of the big parts of the project will be on the first floor. It will add a third MRI, storage space and Marshall said create an area for a future fourth MRI or “perhaps some other needed technology.”

 

The second floor will see the addition of two more operating rooms. There will also be the addition of storage space for the surgery units.

 

The third floor, said Marshall, is all mechanical. Basically, it will house a new mechanical room.

 

The fourth floor is an OB/GYN Clinic. Marshall said doctors in the practice will move from the existing Physicians’ Office Building on campus to the new area.

 

“The offices will be adjacent to the labor and delivery area. It will be a lot more convenient for doctors and patients,” said Marshall.

2022

The fifth floor will have an exciting future use. It will involve education space that will be part of future opportunities for the hospital. Counting the garden, or basement area, that covers the six stories.

 

The permit states that the roof of the addition is designed for future growth. It reads that it is “designed for vertical expansion.” Marshall said that is correct.

 

“We can go up four more stories on that, which would match the rest of the hospital,” said Marshall.

 

The project is not expected to be finished until 2022. However, a temporary near $2 million project, which includes the cost of the MRI, that was announced in July, is in place to handle the massive MRI needs. The MRI going in place is top-of-the-line, according to UHC officials. (Read about that in the days ahead on Connect-Bridgeport.)

 

“The new project has already started. They are doing some demolition work and protecting the windows,” said Marshall. “We’re probably two weeks away before you see the start of the contractor digging a hole to get it moving.”

 

When it gets moving, patients should not see any inconvenience. Marshall said the only thing that will change is the entrance for the ambulances, but that will still be open around the clock.

 

“Only the ambulance folks will notice any changes,” he said.

 

Gresham Smith is architect/engineer on the project. Marks-Landau Construction, LLC out of Wexford, PA., is the contractor. The permit produced a $90,000 fee for the city that will go into the municipality’s general fund budget, said Kerr.

 

“The hospital, for the past few years, is it is almost with certainty that they will have some type of construction going every year,” said Kerr. “The amount of money and technology they continue to put into their building is astounding.”

 

Editor's Note: Community Development Director Andrea Kerr looks over the plans for the new additiona, while the bottom photo shows the opening phase of demolition near the amublance area as windows are boarded up. Geoff Marshall of UHC is shown below.