CANANDAIGUA – This past weekend, ahead of schedule, F.F. Thompson Hospital moved its intensive care unit operations from a seven-bed ICU to a new, state-of-the-art, 12-bed ICU.
Designed by LaBella Associates, the Sands-Constellation Intensive Care Unit was erected by The Pike Company, Inc., beginning in January of 2019. It is part of a larger expansion, which also includes the spacious Marilyn Sands Outpatient Clinic for community members with pulmonary, gastroenterology, and pain management needs.
Growing from seven ICU beds to 12 has enabled Thompson to have full-time coverage from physicians specially trained in the care and management of critical care patients. In addition, the hospital will send fewer patients to Rochester due to limited capacity, keeping an additional 250 to 330 critically ill patients close to home annually.
The $11.9 million capital expansion was entirely community funded, eliminating the need to borrow. UR Medicine Thompson Health President/CEO Michael F. Stapleton noted that when the capital campaign began in 2017, it was projected that the community would, at best, contribute $7.5 million of the cost.
“We are forever grateful to our community for fulling funding this project,” he said. “Their support means more than ever today, as we face the challenge of the COVID-19 virus and the potential strains it may place upon our health system. Our new ICU is built to maximize efficiency and provide the highest level of care to our most critically ill patients. We are prepared to meet this new challenge precisely because generous members of our community, with contributions both large and small, chose to invest in our hospital.”
Stapleton added that the timing of the opening of the new ICU is fortunate because, if needed, the former ICU’s seven beds can be used for community members with COVID-19.
The Marilyn Sands Outpatient Clinic is expected to open in May of 2020.