SONOMA -- Sonoma Valley Hospital will break ground this week on a $39 million upgrade that will bring the hospital in line with state-mandated seismic standards while significantly improving the 83-bed facility's emergency department along with other improvements, officials said.
The hospital, overseen by the Sonoma Valley Healthcare District, has received approval from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to begin site work for the project, which calls for a 16,000-square-foot, two-story addition to the west wing of the existing hospital. Construction is expected be completed by summer of 2013.
A new, 8,000 square-foot emergency department with nine beds, a trauma room, a triage room, isolation rooms and a consultation room will be housed on the first floor. An 8,000 square-foot Operating Suite will be on the second floor, which the hospital said will be "designed for a smooth flow between pre and post op." It will contain three rooms that will be IT capable with cameras so that a physician can observe ongoing procedures from outside of the hospital.
The project is being financed through a combination of general obligation bonds totaling $32 million and fundraising. The district board has approved the final project budget of $39 million and is looking to raise the remaining $7 million. So far, the fund raising campaign has received "enthusiastic community support," said Kelly Mather, CEO of the health care district. Should the hospital not reach the fundraising goal, it would put off constructing the Operating Suite.
"We will not spend money we don't have," Ms. Mather said.
The new addition and infrastructure upgrades will create "considerable energy savings" for the whole hospital, according to the district.
Both hospital emergency generators are being replaced with equipment that meets or exceeds standards set fourth by the Bay Area Quality Management District and AB 32, which aim to lower greenhouse gas emissions throughout the state and region, according to Project Manager Steve Smith of Oakland-based Jtec Healthcare Construction Management.
The heating hot water and steam plant in the hospital is also being replaced with state-of-the-art equipment that meets or exceeds the new air quality standards, according to the health care district.
“This has a positive impact on our energy efficiency,” Ms. Mather said.
The construction team was decided last year as part of a “design-build” process, which allowed the hospital, with Otto Construction and Nacht-Lewis Architects, both based in Sacramento, to work collaboratively on what officials say is a more cost-effective plan.
The hospital will hold a ceremony on May 10 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Ms. Mather, in written remarks, thanked the Sonoma Valley community for supporting the project and said, "We are on the way to our new, upgraded, state-of-the-art hospital."
