New clinic and specialty building update
Clinic and specialty building view from Chicago Ave. & 8th St.
On Tuesday, April 14 the Hennepin County Board approved proceeding with planning of a larger new clinic and specialty building for Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) than was originally proposed as part of the first phase of the new clinic and specialty building project.
Hennepin County Medical Center is consolidating its downtown clinics and specialties into one building for the convenience of patients. The new building, to be located between 8th and 9th streets and Chicago and Park avenues in east downtown, will offer a new, patient-centered model of care in an efficient and accessible facility, featuring expanded evening and weekend hours to meet the needs of patients.
The original plan was for a 322,000 square foot building, at a total project cost of $191.7 million to be built in the first phase, with the possibility of future expansion on the site.
“As we completed a careful analysis of our current needs and the volume growth that we’ve seen in the past two years, it has become clear that we would not be able to consolidate all of the clinics and services that are today spread across nine buildings downtown in the square footage originally proposed,” said Scott Wordelman, Vice President of Ambulatory Services.
Significant additional investment would have been needed to relocate and renovate up to six clinics that did not fit into the new facility.
The footprint of the six-story outpatient care center will now be expanded to accommodate a 367,000 square foot building at a cost of $224.6 million that will include all of HCMC’s downtown campus clinics, as well as relocation of its Comprehensive Cancer Center. This also includes replacement of the linear accelerator that’s used to treat cancer patients, which was due to be replaced.
The county will be asked to issue bonds to finance the project and the healthcare system will pay the debt service on the bonds from operating income.
“Understanding the changing needs and development in the east downtown area, this plan gives us the greatest flexibility for the rest of the campus as we take a fresh look at our facilities,” said Wordelman.
The revised plan is to break ground by November of this year and start seeing patients in the new building in December of 2017.
