Einstein Healthcare Network offers sneak peek at new Montco med center
Southeastern Pennsylvania’s first brand-new hospital in more than a decade opened its doors to the media Thursday. Officials with Einstein Healthcare Network say the $350 million facility in East Norriton will be a medical destination for Montgomery County.
The medical center — known as Einstein Medical Center Montgomery — is a shining, massive hospital with sweeping views of the Norristown Farm Park.
When it opens at the end of the month, it will become Einstein’s third medical center in the Philadelphia region.
President and CEO Barry Freedman says the new facility will feature top-notch intensive care for infants, high-end cardiac services and even a surgical robot.
He says the medical center will fill a void in central Montgomery County.
“We found that more than 60 percent of the residents in this area were traveling great distances [for hospital care],” said Freedman. “And when we surveyed more than a 1,000 homes to find out why, the general reason was there wasn’t the breadth and depth of services.”
The medical center features 146 beds on 87 acres of a former golf course. The hospital will offer a full array of services.
Beth Duffy, the medical center’s chief operating officer, signed off on everything from the health IT system to the type of floor wax.
Before building the real thing, Einstein created full-scale mock-up rooms in a warehouse off site.
Duffy says having medical staff “beta test” new designs meant not having to fix mistakes — such as walls that would’ve made it hard for nurses to hear what’s going on in other rooms.
“So from a patient safety perspective,” Duffy says, “that was an incredibly important thing that they picked up on that we would not have picked up on until after the facility had been built.”
The medical center opens its doors for real Sept. 29, with patients being transferred from Einstein’s soon-to-be-closed Montgomery Hospital in Norristown proper.
Duffy says doors open at 6 a.m., and the hospital’s 980 employees will be ready.
“We will have a full staff on board to care for anything that walks through our door,” Duffy says.
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