University Hospitals officially opened its expanded facility at the Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood, which nearly doubles the size of the campus and includes an expanded array of services.
The $236 million project is expected to bring more than 500 new jobs to the community, according to a UH news release. The expanded facility also includes a sports medicine institute, emergency department and centers of surgery, care for women and newborns and men’s health.
“We successfully charged forward by almost doubling the size of our footprint while revolutionizing the way we deliver care. We not only expanded services that are outgrowing our original configuration, we designed new buildings from the ground up to allow our caregivers to efficiently provide quality health care and enhance patient experience," said Percival Kane, Jr., Ahuja's chief operating officer, in the release.
The facility helps address any gaps in care created when UH ended inpatient, surgical and emergency services its Bedford facility late last year, Kane said.
“It gives us an opportunity be able to consolidate some of those patients and giving another option to come to another location, which is right down the street.”
UH Ahuja phase two expansion will provide facilities for a number of new or expanded health and wellness services, including:
- The Drusinsky Sports Medicine Institute, which includes a 45-yard football training field, an outpatient rehabilitation space, a sports walk-in clinic and dedicated high-tech imaging
- The Steve and Loree Potash Women & Newborn Center, which offers labor and delivery services, a neonatal unit, high-risk pregnancy services and two on-site surgical suites to support multiple birth plans.
- The Cutler Center for Men is set up so "patients will be motivated to see a doctor regularly to address concerns before they become major health problems," the release said. The facility includes a pool and foosball table, Cleveland Browns stadium seating and a Zen area where patients can relax. The center offers an additional focus on minority men’s health and uses personalized concierges, called "the Joe Team," to help men take control of their healthcare.
- The UH Breast Center, which will be part of the UH Seidman Cancer Center, serves as a "one-stop resource, where patients can receive a diagnosis, treatment plan and have surgery — all in one place."
- A new emergency department nearly doubled the department to 43 beds, along with two trauma bays and five fast-track rooms, according to the hospital. There will also be a new 23-bed short-stay unit providing dedicated observation services.
- An expanded surgery center that the hospital says increases Ahuja's operating room capacity by 80%. There will also be a new sterile processing area, which cleans, sterilizes and prepares medical instruments.
The new, expanded emergency department at Ahuja opened June 5 with additional services opening June 27, the release said.
