UConn Health

September 22, 2011 | Maureen McGuire

Town Hall Meetings on Sept. 27 Will Provide Update on Bioscience Connecticut

Town Hall meetings will be held on Sept. 27, at 7:45 a.m. and noon in the Keller Auditorium for UConn Health Center faculty, staff, students and volunteers.

Design work for the new patient care tower and the John Dempsey Hospital renovation continues to move forward, together with progress on all other aspects of Bioscience Connecticut. An update for UConn Health Center faculty, staff, students and volunteers will be provided during Town Hall meetings on Sept. 27, at 7:45 a.m. and noon in the Keller Auditorium.

“Because design funding for the new patient care tower and John Dempsey Hospital was allocated in 2010, those projects are already underway,” explains Tom Callahan, the Health Center’s interim chief of staff who is leading the implementation of Bioscience Connecticut.

The new patient care tower and renovated John Dempsey Hospital are among several elements of Bioscience Connecticut, part of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s vision for job creation, along with renovations to the L building and the expansion of incubator space; the construction of a new ambulatory care center on the lower campus; and expansion to both the School of Medicine and School of Dental Medicine class sizes.

To date, the plans call for a new hospital entrance and lobby, as well as a new Emergency Department entrance. Ambulatory services will be accessed through the current main entrance.

In light of these proposed changes, multiple traffic and parking studies are underway, notes Thomas Trutter, associate vice president of facilities development and operations. He adds that the plans currently call for two new parking garages for the new tower with a total of 800 parking spaces, plus a garage with 1,000 spaces for the new ambulatory care center.

More details about the plans will be discussed on the 27th. For those who cannot attend the Town Hall meetings, the presentation will be taped and posted on the Health Center’s website.

“This is a very exciting moment for the Health Center. We are grateful to everyone who has provided input to help us plan for a hospital that can meet the needs of our academic medical center in the future – and we look forward to the discussion on September 27,” says Callahan.

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