Community Hospital East Plans $175M Renovation

Community Hospital East is planning its largest renovation in almost 60 years by investing $175 million in upgrades.

Work on the projects is expected to begin later this year. It will include expanding the emergency room, renovating patient rooms, and adding three health pavilions.

The eastside hospital serves 255,000 people and East Region President Scott Teffeteller says the work is to help better address their needs.

“It's going to be more of an ambulatory outpatient, so it'll probably be much more use friendly," said Teffeteller.  "Right now, we are built in multiple phases, so all of our buildings don't connect as well as they could.  So, it's just going to be much more of an easier, patient-friendly environment to be able to get through from department to department.”

Teffeteller says it's the first major renovation since the hospital opened 58 years ago, but now is the time because of changes in technology and needs in the community.

"The facility has aged and it's time for us really to reinvent.  Health care is changing," he said.  "We need to reinvent.  If we have a chance to right the ship if you will, because when this was designed 50 years ago, we provided health care in a very different situation.  So, health care has progressed, so it's time for us to progress with that, as well."

The hospital is paying for the entire project which is expected to take about five years to complete, but Teffeteller says the work will not interrupt service at the hospital.