Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital begins construction on $158M expansion

Gold-plated shovels and hard hats were handed out on Sept. 20 as Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital held a groundbreaking ceremony for its $158 million expansion project. The event kicked-off construction on the second phase of the Santa Rosa hospital. The first phase was the hospital itself, which opened in 2014.

“When we opened up the new campus, we thought we might get a 5% or, best case, a 10% increase in volume,” said Michael Purvis, CEO of Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital. It turned out the number was just a bit higher: 40%. “Very shortly after we opened, we were at capacity. So after the first year we were here, we really started thinking about what we need to do in terms of expansion.”

The expansion includes a new 3-story wing on the east side of the hospital that will add 67,000 square feet of space, which will include an additional 40 beds, two operating rooms, one endoscopy room, 20 intensive care unit beds and 11 post-anesthesia care unit bays.

The project also entails a 10,713-square-foot renovation within the existing hospital that will add nine emergency department bays, expanded dietary services, a laboratory and blood bank, and a central sterile processing unit to support additional services.

“I realize that we have a full hospital almost each and every day,” said Julie Petrini, president and CEO, Sutter Bay Hospitals. “I know this because Mike and I have many conversations about it. We talk about the volumes, the crowded emergency department, and the fact that we owe to this community a hospital with the capacity to meet (its) needs.”

The expansion project will take a two-part approach, which Lisa Amador, assistant administrator and director of philanthropy, North Bay Sutter Health, discussed at the Business Journal’s health care conference on July 26.

Amador said the new wing will be built first, slated for completion in April 2022. The renovation of the emergency room department will follow, which will be finished by Sept. 2022.

“It takes a long time,” Amador said at the time. “We’ve been in the planning process for a couple of years as well.”

Staff Writer Cheryl Sarfaty covers tourism, hospitality, health care and education. Reach her at cheryl.sarfaty@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4259.

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