Chestnut Hill hospital expansion on track for Spring 2012 completion

Officials with Chestnut Hill Hospital say the city’s snow-packed winter did not slow down construction on a multi-million dollar expansion project.

“We’ve excavated and put up our piers,” said hospital CEO Brooks Turkel. “The next step is to pour the foundations.”

Turkel said “substantial construction” of the $40 million building began in February following an October ground-breaking ceremony. The addition will include a new Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit, among other things.

Turkel said the exterior of the three-story expansion should be complete around Christmas at the end of December.

“Right about when we expected it to be done,” said Turkel. He said there will likely be a “topping off” celebration when that major phase is finished.

Setting up the building’s interior will be the next step of the process. Almost everything inside will be brand new, according to Turkel.

” It’s everything from the interior electrical work, the plumbing work and shelling out the space and then taking the delivery of an awful lot of equipment,” said Turkel.

It’s not completely clear how the hospital will use the existing Emergency Department once the expansion is complete. Turkel said the old ICU will be kept open to accommodate more patients if needed.

Turkel expects the expansion at its Germantown Avenue campus to be complete – inside and out –during the spring of 2012.