Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/802683
they serve, the medical needs of that community and what is the current standard practice," Frayne said. "If a facility was built 40 years ago, 50 years ago or 100 years ago, it's not logical to assume that it's still going to be optimally functional for what's required now." Need for space In Stamford, planning for the new hospital complex began more than 13 years ago under current President and CEO Brian G. Grissler, who realized the hospital's old and disconnected buildings couldn't handle the rapidly changing, high-tech and patient-centered methods of delivering care, said Silard. Like many hospitals around the state, she said there was also a need for more capacity in the emergency department. e ER had been handling 50,000 visits a year — double what the space had been built to accommodate. e new building can handle 100,000 visits, she said, and includes a dedicated pediatric emergency department. e new hospital also features a helipad for receiving trauma patients. Meanwhile, the expanded surgical floor includes large, modern operating rooms with the latest in robotic surgery and other technologies for more complex and hybrid procedures. Silard said the biggest challenge for patients so far is finding their way around. To help, the hospital introduced a mobile app, called Stamford Health Find My Way, which helps patients navigate to key locations. e app gives directions to major departments and high-traffic spots like the cafeteria, gi shop, elevators, stairways and restrooms. It also provides links to bill pay, patient portals and the hospital's Facebook and Twitter feeds. In December, Stamford Health opened its $41.7 million Integrated Care Pavilion, a 97,000-square- foot physician office building adjacent to the new hospital featuring three levels of clinical offices over a 382-parking space deck. e two facilities are connected by a glass-enclosed catwalk. Finding new docs Silard said the new hospital and office complex has been a useful recruiting tool. e hospital expects to hire up to 100 new employees by the end of 2017, and the changes have "allowed us to recruit some world-renowned physicians," said Silard. "ey want to come and practice in this spectacular new environment," she said. Hospital officials say the project has stimulated the economy in other ways — by fueling reinvestment in the surrounding neighborhood, including the building of new mixed-income housing near the hospital on the city's West Side. Frayne said there's typically a "ripple effect" when a hospital invests in a community. "For every dollar spent within the hospital, it doubles by rippling out through the local economy," he said. A study released by the hospital association in Jan. 2016 found Connecticut hospitals contributed $21.3 billion to state and local economies in 2014, including $10.9 billion in annual local payroll, $8.8 billion in spending on goods and services and $1.6 billion in capital spending. "No one wants to be hospitalized, so if you have to be here we want to make it a very warm and caring environment." Kathleen Silard, executive vice president and COO, Stamford Health By the numbers Here's a glimpse of Stamford Hospital's size and scope as of fiscal 2015. $476.4M Net patient revenue ($582,142) Operating loss 226 Staffed beds 47,440 Emergency room visits S O U R C E : C T O F F I C E O F H E A L T H C A R E A C C E S S (Top left) A shot of Stamford Hospital's new $450 million facil- ity. (Above) A shot of one of the hospital's new operating rooms. P H O T O S \ \ C O N T R I B U T E D H GREATER HARTFORD HEALTH • Spring 2017 19