New Reid Hospital inpatient towers to open Wednesday
The New Reid Hospital inpatient towers will open at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10, on Reid Parkway, the historic culmination of a decade of planning and construction of a replacement campus the Wayne County region's health care needs.
"You will frequently here a phrase among our team members that sums up just how excited we are to be part of such a rare step in community history – ‘Once in a hundred years' truly signifies just how unique is this experience," said Reid Hospital President Barry MacDowell, who noted that Reid celebrated its 103rd birthday this summer. "This is the first time the community has celebrated a new hospital since July 27, 1905."
The Reid governing board determined in the late 1990s that a new hospital was the best, most cost efficient choice for the future of community health care. The decision followed a detailed study of options that included trying to add on to the existing buildings at 1401 Chester Boulevard. Extensive community input influenced each stage of the process.
In September 2000, the governing board voted for a replacement campus. The $318 million project included four phases featuring a new outpatient rehabilitation facility, which was completed and opened in 2004; and a Medical Office Building, Outpatient Care Center and inpatient hospital, which make up the Reid campus on Reid Parkway. The Medical Office Building and Outpatient Care Center opened last year. The opening of the inpatient hospital represents the final phase.
The move Wednesday will begin with the 7 a.m. opening of the emergency room at The New Reid, 1100 Reid Parkway. At the same time, the emergency department at 1401 Chester Boulevard will close. At 8 a.m., the first inpatient will be transported up Chester, and by afternoon or early evening, all inpatients will be moved.
MacDowell said barricades will go up at the main entrance of 1401 Chester Boulevard, marking the beginning of closing the traditional campus. The patient move is actually near the end of a process that started on Aug. 27, with departments and equipment being moved each day in preparation for opening the inpatient hospital.
"This process has been planned and tested," MacDowell said. "The Reid team has worked very hard over the past few years to make sure that this move is accomplished with efficiency and safety."
The move began a few days after almost 3,400 community members toured the new hospital in an Aug. 24 open house.
The hospital was built based on priorities including technology and cost efficiency, but also making it a healing environment. Donor-funded Artwork including photography, painting and sculpture, combined with water features and soon-to-be-completed outdoor gardens, were all part of the plan to create a warm and healing place, MacDowell said.
"The New Reid provides a beautiful health care campus that will allow our team to offer top-notch care using the latest and greatest technology," said Jon Ford, Reid governing board chairman. "But the truth is, a dedicated team of compassionate caregivers make Reid the special place that it is. These people are truly the heart and soul of the care we provide."