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44 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2017 B efore building Stamford Hospital's new $450-million complex, top hospital executives sought the advice of former patients. What would give them a better hospital experience? Most of their answers, not surprisingly, had to do with comfort and privacy: they wanted private rooms and their own bath- rooms; places for visiting friends and family members to gather; surroundings that felt as close as possible to home. Kathleen Silard, executive vice presi- dent and COO for Stamford Health, said that feedback was a guiding force during construction of the new 640,000-square-foot building, which opened last September aer more than a decade of planning. Patients first Besides all-new operating rooms, a new emergency department and a new consoli- dated Heart & Vascular Institute, the build- ing includes five floors of all private patient rooms — 180 total — each with its own bathroom and a pull-out sofa for visitors. ere's a resource library where patients can research a diagnosis, said Silard, and spaces where loved ones can gather or retreat for peace and quiet. She said the entire facil- ity was built to help deliver the promise of "patient-centered" care. "No one wants to be hospitalized, so if you have to be here we want to make it a very warm and caring environment," she explained. "We paid a lot of attention to art, to colors — to really making it as comfort- able as possible for the patient." Stamford's new building is one of several large hospital expansions around the state in the last few years. Hartford Hospital, for example, opened a new $150-million Bone & Joint Institute in January, the first orthopedic specialty hospi- tal in New England. e 130,000-square-foot hospital includes 48 inpatient rooms, eight operating rooms and a rehab and wellness areas for outpatients. A 75,000-square-foot outpatient surgery and medical center is connected by a skywalk. Also this year, the Hartford Hospital opened a 30,000-square-foot addition to its Center for Education, Simulation and Innovation, a high-tech medical train- ing complex. Last November, Norwalk Hospital unveiled its new 35,000-square-foot C. An- thony and Jean Whittingham Cancer Center, a project that doubled the hospital's existing cancer treatment space. Growth by necessity Stephen Frayne, senior vice president for health policy with the Connecticut Hospital Association, said the investments are being driven by aging facilities, higher Stamford Hospital Builds to Heal Better State's hospitals are growing to serve patients cutting-edge care By Natalie Missakian Stamford Hospital's new $450 million campus is one of many examples of hospitals in the state that are investing in new buildings. PHOTO/STAMFORD HOSPITAL INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT › Health & BioPharma