DANVILLE, Pa. — Geisinger officials announced Tuesday plans for a proposed $880 million expansion of Geisinger Medical Center in Montour County.
The project will feature a new 11-story tower that will be built at the front of the hospital, near an expanded main entrance area.
Geisinger officials said the new tower will feature a larger emergency room to serve more patients and provide a more efficient flow of care. The new ER will double the square footage of the current space and increase it from 45 beds to 60 beds.
Updated and expanded intensive care units and operating suites will surround the ER to allow collaboration between teams as they care for the sickest and most severely injured patients.
The hospital will transition to a 100% private-room facility for a more comforting and modern healing environment, so each patient will have their own room to recover and be with their loved ones. It also allows more space for teams to work collaboratively on a patient's care plan.
"This project will truly transform care. It's proof of our commitment to making better health easier for our communities today and into the future," said Terry Gilliland, M.D., president and CEO of Geisinger.
Geisinger officials spoke with Newswatch 16 after announcing the expansion on Tuesday.
"We are looking at how to best position this facility for the care that we desire to be delivering today and into the future," said Megan Brosious, Geisinger's chief administrative officer. " All the services that we need to modernize and expand on the campus into one very efficient stack with a new parking facility in the front of the hospital, which will make coming and going so much easier."
The project will also add 20 new operating rooms.
"The ORs need to be expanded to accommodate the needs of new technology, new imaging, modalities, robotic techniques, and things that when these ORs were built, they simply weren't even thought about," said Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick, Geisinger's chief medical officer.
The project also features a proposed multi-level parking garage near the front of the hospital. The garage will connect to the hospital with an enclosed sky bridge, offering patients and visitors an easy way to reach the facility and its emergency services. The parking garage also will better connect the hospital with the Pine Barn Inn, which will continue operations adjacent to the hospital.
The Danville project is happening as a similar expansion is underway at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center near Wilkes-Barre.
Geisinger also recently started construction on Geisinger Behavioral Health Center Danville, a 96-bed inpatient facility in Mahoning Township expected to open in 2025.
"We do anticipate that the need will grow for any number of reasons given the demographics of our area. We look very carefully at central Pennsylvania, at the communities we serve, and northeastern Pennsylvania as well," Dr. Fitzpatrick said.
The Danville expansion project is expected to begin in 2025, starting with the planned demolition of Dickey Clinic to make room for the tower. Tower construction will occur in phases, with the new tower slated to open in 2028. The last expansion on the campus occurred in 2010 with the opening of the Hospital for Advanced Medicine tower.