WHITE PLAINS, NY—A plan to build a $230-million Ambulatory Care Pavilion in Valhalla, NY, adjacent to the existing Westchester Medical Center was approved by the Westchester County Local Development Corp. in its vote here on Wednesday.

In the LDC's largest deal since its official formation in April 2013, it approved a resolution to issue approximately $284 million in tax-exempt bonds for the new 280,000-square-foot pavilion.

Michael Israel, president of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, parent company of Westchester Medical Center, says WMCHealth hopes to break ground on the project this spring as Westchester Medical Center's new 6,000-square-foot lobby and its new Caregiver Center for patient families are opened. The new project is expected to be completed in 2018.

The LDC financing also includes $44 million for other capital projects and may re-fund up to $52 million for certain bonds for a total LDC financing package not to exceed $340 million.

Israel asserts that the hospital intended to add the much-needed ambulatory care pavilion a number of years ago but that plan was put on hold when WMCHealth acquired St. Francis Hospital (since renamed MidHudson Regional Hospital of Westchester Medical Center) in Poughkeepsie, NY in bankruptcy proceedings in May 2014.

Plans for the ambulatory pavilion at the Westchester Medical Center were  stalled once again a year later when WMCHealth acquired a 60% interest in the Bon Secours Charity Health System and its three hospitals—Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, NY; St. Anthony's Community Hospital in Warwick, NY; and Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, NY.

The eight-story steel and glass Ambulatory Care Pavilion will include 185,000 square feet of ambulatory care service space, including an advanced imaging center, ambulatory surgery Center and Heart and Vascular Institute, and a 20,000-square-foot private-room expansion for Westchester Medical Center, plus another 75,000 square feet for physician offices.

The WMCHealth Ambulatory Care Pavilion is believed to be one of Westchester's largest non-residential building projects in recent memory, and the largest healthcare project since Westchester Medical Center's 400,000-square-foot main tower was built in 1977 and its 250,000-square-foot Maria Fareri Children's Hospital was built in 2004.

In the Hudson Valley, Orange Regional Medical Center is building a $100-million addition to its campus in Middletown, NY and construction is expected to begin this summer on a $466-million patient pavilion at the Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie. Recently, the Hospital for Special Surgery announced it was establishing a 50,000-square-foot outpatient center at 1133 Westchester Ave. in White Plains.

“As the area's leading provider of healthcare services and with a growing network of seven hospitals and a workforce of more than 10,000 people, our commitment to the region has never been stronger,” says WMCHealth's Israel.  “The development of an ambulatory care hub on our Valhalla campus will respond to key changes in health care delivery, while addressing a critical shortage of space as our programs and patient volume continue to grow.  This project will enable us to offer outpatient services currently not available on our campus and further showcase the latest in healthcare technologies.”

Westchester County executive Robert Astorino says of the deal, “Today's announcement represents a giant boost for both healthcare and the economy.  This is the single biggest financing for our LDC to date.”

Earlier this year, Astorino announced the county hopes to finalize a long-term lease deal with Fareri Associates of Greenwich, CT to develop a $1.2-billion bioscience park on mostly county-owned property known as the North 60 adjacent to the Westchester Medical Center. The County Executive told Globest.com that the significant investment by the Westchester Medical Center Health Network at Westchester Medical Center, combined with the potential investment at the North 60 property is complimentary with each other and “signifies that Westchester is a hub for health care and great health care in the whole New York metropolitan region.”

WHITE PLAINS, NY—A plan to build a $230-million Ambulatory Care Pavilion in Valhalla, NY, adjacent to the existing Westchester Medical Center was approved by the Westchester County Local Development Corp. in its vote here on Wednesday.

In the LDC's largest deal since its official formation in April 2013, it approved a resolution to issue approximately $284 million in tax-exempt bonds for the new 280,000-square-foot pavilion.

Michael Israel, president of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, parent company of Westchester Medical Center, says WMCHealth hopes to break ground on the project this spring as Westchester Medical Center's new 6,000-square-foot lobby and its new Caregiver Center for patient families are opened. The new project is expected to be completed in 2018.

The LDC financing also includes $44 million for other capital projects and may re-fund up to $52 million for certain bonds for a total LDC financing package not to exceed $340 million.

Israel asserts that the hospital intended to add the much-needed ambulatory care pavilion a number of years ago but that plan was put on hold when WMCHealth acquired St. Francis Hospital (since renamed MidHudson Regional Hospital of Westchester Medical Center) in Poughkeepsie, NY in bankruptcy proceedings in May 2014.

Plans for the ambulatory pavilion at the Westchester Medical Center were  stalled once again a year later when WMCHealth acquired a 60% interest in the Bon Secours Charity Health System and its three hospitals—Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, NY; St. Anthony's Community Hospital in Warwick, NY; and Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, NY.

The eight-story steel and glass Ambulatory Care Pavilion will include 185,000 square feet of ambulatory care service space, including an advanced imaging center, ambulatory surgery Center and Heart and Vascular Institute, and a 20,000-square-foot private-room expansion for Westchester Medical Center, plus another 75,000 square feet for physician offices.

The WMCHealth Ambulatory Care Pavilion is believed to be one of Westchester's largest non-residential building projects in recent memory, and the largest healthcare project since Westchester Medical Center's 400,000-square-foot main tower was built in 1977 and its 250,000-square-foot Maria Fareri Children's Hospital was built in 2004.

In the Hudson Valley, Orange Regional Medical Center is building a $100-million addition to its campus in Middletown, NY and construction is expected to begin this summer on a $466-million patient pavilion at the Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie. Recently, the Hospital for Special Surgery announced it was establishing a 50,000-square-foot outpatient center at 1133 Westchester Ave. in White Plains.

“As the area's leading provider of healthcare services and with a growing network of seven hospitals and a workforce of more than 10,000 people, our commitment to the region has never been stronger,” says WMCHealth's Israel.  “The development of an ambulatory care hub on our Valhalla campus will respond to key changes in health care delivery, while addressing a critical shortage of space as our programs and patient volume continue to grow.  This project will enable us to offer outpatient services currently not available on our campus and further showcase the latest in healthcare technologies.”

Westchester County executive Robert Astorino says of the deal, “Today's announcement represents a giant boost for both healthcare and the economy.  This is the single biggest financing for our LDC to date.”

Earlier this year, Astorino announced the county hopes to finalize a long-term lease deal with Fareri Associates of Greenwich, CT to develop a $1.2-billion bioscience park on mostly county-owned property known as the North 60 adjacent to the Westchester Medical Center. The County Executive told Globest.com that the significant investment by the Westchester Medical Center Health Network at Westchester Medical Center, combined with the potential investment at the North 60 property is complimentary with each other and “signifies that Westchester is a hub for health care and great health care in the whole New York metropolitan region.”