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2017 | Doing Business in Connecticut 45 patient demand and a transformation both in technology and the way that care is delivered. "It's not an expansion per se, it's really the hospitals continually looking at the commu- nities 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." In Stamford, planning for the new hos- pital 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-cen- tered 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 accommo- date. 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 hy- brid procedures. Way finding 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. "We've been enormously positively received by every constituent," said Silard. "e patients in the community and their families have had great experiences here and our patient engagement scores are increasing constantly. We're also getting rave reviews from physicians." In December, Stamford Health opened its $41.7 million Integrated Care Pavilion, a 97,000-square-foot physician office build- ing adjacent to the hospital featuring three levels of clinical offices over a 382 parking- space deck. e building is connected to the new hospital by a glass-enclosed catwalk. "It's got practice space for surgeons, cardiologists — and they can walk through the walkway right into the new hospital so it's very convenient for them," Silard said. She 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." 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 asso- ciation in January 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 for stamforD health PHOTO/STAMFORD HOSPITAL Kathleen Silard, executive vice president and COO for Stamford Health The Hartford Healthcare Bone & Joint Institute. PHOTO/HARTFORD HEALTHCARE