SALT LAKE CITY—A year ago, Emily Roosevelt received a second chance at life when University Hospital surgeons gave the 38-year-old wife and mother a new heart. Today, Roosevelt returned to help the hospital usher in a new era for patient care and celebrate the opening of its new wing.
Roosevelt, her husband, and two sons joined University officials, hospital executives and employees, donors, and community members for a ribbon cutting to officially open the new Patient Care Pavilion and celebrate the completion of a $200 million expansion.
“Receiving a new heart not only saved my life but also allowed me to continue being a wife, mother, daughter, and friend to all the wonderful people in my life,” Roosevelt said. “This new hospital is dedicated to helping people heal in a comfortable, patient-centered setting so that they too can return to their families and friends, work, and communities. As we cut the ribbon on the new Patient Care Pavilion, I am happy to represent all those who depend on this exceptional hospital for life-saving care.”
The expansion substantially increased the number of private patient rooms, while making access and parking easier for patients and staff alike. Patients, staff, and visitors will enjoy the new expansive lobby, 100 private patient rooms, and an additional 250 parking spaces. The services patients need most--information desk, admitting, labs, outpatient pharmacy, and cafeteria--now are located near the front entrance.
But the expansion embodies more than just a new wing and new beds, according to David Entwistle, chief executive officer of University Hospitals & Clinics. “This expansion has always been about providing the best space for our patients to receive care and for our staff to work in,” Entwistle said. “The University is known for its excellent patient care, teaching, and leading-edge research, and now we have the facility to match those skills.”
The first phase of construction, completed in 2003, included the Eccles Critical Care Pavilion, which greatly enlarged the hospital’s emergency, surgical intensive care, short-stay and postoperative care facilities, in addition to providing new surgical suites. The second phase of construction, completed this month, features a two-story addition to the Critical Care Pavilion, a four-story addition to the helipad parking terrace, and the new seven-story (five stories above ground, two below) Patient Care Pavilion, which also will be occupied by women’s and children’s, cardiovascular, and neuroscience services. Patients will be moved to these new areas beginning in August.
Once the Patient Care Pavilion is occupied, the semi-private rooms in the original hospital will be remodeled into private rooms.
The architect for the expansion was Architectural Nexus and Layton Construction was the builder.
About University of Utah Health Care
University of Utah Health Care is the only academic health care system in the Intermountain West. As part of that system, University Hospitals & Clinics offer services in more than 120 specialties and is consistently ranked as one of the country’s best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. The system provides care for Utahns and residents of five surrounding states in a referral area encompassing more than 10 percent of the continental United States. The hospitals and clinics see nearly 1 million outpatient visits and more than 26,600 inpatient admissions each year. Its academic partners at the University of Utah School of Medicine and Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy, and Health are internationally regarded research and teaching institutions.