As contractors complete the interior of Bristol Hospital’s new downtown medical office and lab, patients can expect to begin using the new three-story facility as soon as May, according to hospital officials.
Speaking to hospital staff Tuesday, hospital President Kurt Barwis said construction of the long-awaited center should bewrapped up inApril, followed by a public opening the next month.
“We’re on schedule,” said Edward Henry, executive director of the Bristol Hospital Multi-SpecialtyGroup. “There are a lot of moving parts, but it looks like we’ll stay on the timeline for opening in late May.”
The hospital is promoting the $25 million facility as a convenience for patients and a modern, spacious upgrade for dozens of medical specialists and technicians who currently maintain offices around the city or at the hospital. Bristol’s business community, however, is more focused on what the building can do for downtown, which as been stagnant for years.
The 60,000 square feet of labs and medical offices will house about 100 employees ranging from doctors and therapists to support staff. The hospital anticipates 500 patients a day will use the facility.
“The city sees this as a springboard for further development. The question I get everywhere now is about when it will open,” said Chris Boyle, the hospital’s public relations director.
Bristol recently paved a new street through the 15-acre property where the Bristol Centre Mall once stood. The land has been a vacant lot since the city demolished the mall more than a decade ago; the hospital’s three-story project on the southeastern corner is the first commercial development to start there. Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu’s administration is trying to attract retail, restaurants and housing to other parcels nearby.
Patients fromaround Greater Bristol will be able to use the $25 million center for blood draws, physical therapy, occupational therapy and visits to specialists in neurology, cardiology, endocrinology, orthopedics, rheumatology and urology.
“The staff is very eager to get in there, and so are our doctors,” said Tiffany Morrissey, practice administrator for the Bristol Hospital Multi-Specialty Group.
Morrissey and Henry emphasized that primary care physicians affiliated with the hospital will continue to maintain offices throughout the city, Plainville, Southington, Burlington and elsewhere. The three-story downtown building is primarily for lab services and medical specialists.
Don Stacom can be reached at dstacom@courant.com.