May 20, 2016 | Christine Kaminski

Renovations Planned for UConn Health’s Main Building and Existing Hospital

University Tower is open but moving and renovations continue in the main building and Connecticut Tower at UConn Health.

UConn Health's University Tower and Connecticut Tower. (Photo by Janine Gelineau)

University Tower is open but moving and renovations continue in the main building and Connecticut Tower at UConn Health. (Photo by Janine Gelineau)

Although the University Tower has opened, moving and renovations still continue in the main building and existing hospital.

For instance, the Connucopia Gift Shop is preparing to move from its location in the main lobby to the M level in the University Tower this summer. The space will become the new home of the Blood Drawing Station currently located on the second floor of the Main Building.

Also in the main lobby, the Charlotte Johnson Hollfelder Center for Women’s Health is scheduled to move to the Outpatient Pavilion in July. The Clinical Research Center will be taking over those digs.

While four inpatient floors moved to the new hospital building, the Connecticut Tower will continue to house:

  • OB/GYN (Newborn Nursery and Labor & Delivery areas)
  • Connecticut Children’s Medical Center NICU at UConn Health
  • Correctional Care and Psychiatry Care
  • Procedures Center/G.I. Endoscopy
  • Department of Diagnostic Imaging

Other hospital support services will be moving into the vacated floors including the incident command center, clinical education, New England Sickle Institute, and on-call rooms for residents and fellows. Clinical support functions such as the clinical laboratory, clinical pharmacy, and the Food Court will also remain in the Main Building.

“In addition, the clinical area of the main building is planned to undergo significant renovations beginning this summer,” says Thomas Trutter, UConn Health’s associate vice president of campus planning, design and construction. The renovations will focus on the dental school teaching clinics and the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center. These areas, along with the existing main lobby, will be expanded and transformed into newly designed patient care areas, said Trutter.

Other important notes:

The renovation activities in the main lobby will necessitate the closing of the main entrance in mid-to-late June for several months (stay-tuned for details and wayfinding info in the weeks ahead).

And the main pedestrian thoroughfare that connects patients, visitors, and employees traveling from the University Tower to the Connecticut Tower and the main building will open in the fall.