BRISTOL, Conn.—Members of the Bristol Hospital community celebrated the ongoing construction of the new Ambulatory Care Center with a ceremonial beam signing on Tuesday.
More than 100 Bristol Hospital employees, board members, community and business leaders, and local legislators, took a turn at signing the white painted portion of a roof beam that will be placed on the second floor of the structure. With the skeleton of the Ambulatory Care Center in the background, Bristol Hospital and Health Care President and CEO Kurt A. Barwis, FACHE, told the audience that in 2015, the hospital Board of Directors made the decision to build the Ambulatory Care Center to meet community need.
“Our Board of Directors felt that since access to care was a priority identified in our community health needs assessment, a decision was made to pursue this project,” Barwis said. “This is a win-win for numerous stakeholders including Bristol Hospital, the City of Bristol, and our patients and families.”
Construction on the building—which is part of the City of Bristol’s Centre Square Project—began in early spring and is expected to be completed by spring 2019.The building is being constructed on the corners of Riverside Avenue and Main Street, and will have the street address of 15 Riverside Ave. The 60,000-square-foot, three-story structure will house numerous sub-specialties of the Bristol Hospital Multi-Specialty Group as well as dedicated space for laboratory, and physical and occupational therapy services.
“This beautiful new facility will enhance the brand of the Bristol Hospital Multi-Specialty Group and provide improved access for such services as cardiology, neurology, orthopedics and rheumatology—all under one roof,” Barwis said. “All along we have said that we see this building serving as a springboard for future development on the former downtown mall site.”
Bristol Hospital has partnered with Florida-based Rendina Healthcare Real Estate as the developer of the Ambulatory Care Center. A nationally-recognized leader in medical office development for nearly 30 years, Rendina has developed more than 7 million square feet of building space throughout the country.
Representatives from Rendina said the entire steel structure should be completed by the end of August. Shortly thereafter, the decking and slabs for the first and second floors will be completed. The building design includes an L-shaped structure that will be constructed on southern portion of the site and will have a streetscape character that is consistent with the rest of the downtown area.