Norwalk Hospital officials detail plans for expansion
The Norwalk Hour
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
By Lisa Chamoff, Staff Writer

Hospital to open offices around area

NORWALK -- Norwalk Hospital is planning to place medical facilities in more than 250,000 square feet of Norwalk and Georgetown office space and make more than $10 million in renovations to its main facility in what is considered its biggest-ever expansion, officials announced yesterday.

The changes will make physicians and other medical offices more conveniently located for patients and help the hospital develop more innovative services, said Geoffrey Cole, president and chief executive officer of Norwalk Hospital.

Cole was joined by local developers, hospital employees and city officials at a news conference yesterday in the hospital's newly renovated lobby.

"Norwalk Hospital is committed to a different approach to health care that is not institutional but personal," Cole said. "A big part of that is how we look and how we feel."

The hospital recently signed a lease for 100,000 square feet of space at iPark - the former PerkinElmer facility on the Norwalk-Wilton border being converted into an office complex. The building will be energy-efficient and will comply with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The facility on Route 7 will house internists, pediatricians, OB/GYNs and other specialists. Cole said the building's design, which includes a two-story atrium with natural lighting and bamboo trees, will provide a tranquil environment. It also will house a fitness center, which will help doctors promote wellness.

Bringing various doctors and services - such as laboratories and radiology - under one roof is convenient and will provide "totally integrated care," said Dr. Basil Papaharis, an internist and president of Soundview Medical Associates, which plans to move to iPark from its offices at 520 West Ave.

"For patients, that's the perfect solution," Papaharis said.

Physicians moving to the Route 7 facility will contribute $2.5 million to set up offices there; the hospital will take 80,000 square feet by the end of the year and pay another $2.5 million toward the project.

The hospital also is working with Norwalk developer Stanley Seligson to build a 50,000-square-foot Musculoskeletal Institute at Maple Street and West Avenue that will be completed in late next year.

"It will kind of be the preamble to our development project," said Seligson, referring to the West Avenue redevelopment plan he has worked on for nearly a decade. It would include 350 residential units and more than 600,000 square feet of office and retail space.

The hospital also is part of Seligson's overall plan - he expects to develop 50,000 square feet of medical office space for it by 2010.

To bring services to the other communities it serves - including Wilton, Ridgefield and Redding - the hospital is looking to take 30,000 to 50,000 square feet of space in a planned LEED-certified community in Georgetown. The space will house urgent care services, primary care physicians, specialists and laboratory and radiology services.

Renovations to the hospital's first- and third-floor corridors and parking garage as well as the creation of a landscaped entryway will begin within the next six months and cost more than $5 million, said John Pierro, the hospital's vice president for planning and business development. A $1 million cafeteria renovation also is planned.

Construction recently began on two laboratories where coronary and vascular problems will be treated, part of a Vascular Center of Excellence that the hospital plans on its third floor. The project is expected to cost $5 million. The hospital also wants to expand and redesign its Sleep Disorders Center.

Much of the funding for the work is coming from the hospital's foundation, Pierro said.

Over the past few years, Norwalk Hospital completed construction of its Childbirth Center and renovations to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit, the Emergency Department waiting area and the Smilow Family Breast Health Center.

Mayor Richard Moccia thanked the hospital for its dedication to the community.

"I've always thought of Norwalk Hospital as the hospital on the hill," Moccia said. "But they're going down into the valley a little bit."

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