Four-year, $125 million Norton Audubon Hospital project focusing on more private patient rooms, expanded emergency services and improved overall patient experience.

Published: March 29, 2018 | Updated: November 14, 2019

Norton Healthcare is celebrating a significant milestone in the construction and renovation project taking place at Norton Audubon Hospital. Phase 1 of a four-year, $125 million project is nearly complete. This phase includes the construction of a three-floor tower with private critical care and progressive cardiac care rooms, as well as expansion of the emergency department.

“We’re very excited to celebrate this new chapter at Norton Audubon Hospital,” said Russell F. Cox, president and chief executive officer, Norton Healthcare. “Norton Healthcare is committed to providing the best, friendliest and most compassionate care, and these improvements will help us to honor that commitment to our patients and families for decades to come.”

The new tower offers a total of 74 private patient rooms. Rooms on the existing units will be renovated in the upcoming phases to offer a better patient experience.

“With more than 148,000 patients entering our facility each year, Norton Audubon Hospital is a provider that the community has come to trust for their health care needs,” said Jon D. Cooper, chief administrative officer, Norton Audubon Hospital. “The new construction will accommodate patients during their most critical time of need while focusing on enhanced privacy, patient satisfaction, efficiency and clinical value.”

The remaining phases of the project will include:

• A new main entrance with convenient access to patient registration, information, the Robert Lerman Music Library, a coffee shop and the gift shop
• Additional emergency department beds to help accommodate more than 46,000 emergency visits annually
• Additional operating rooms and pre-/postoperative patient care areas
• Expanded cardiac catheterization lab for patients needing diagnostic and interventional heart care
• Exterior improvements, including new windows and an exterior façade around the entire building

Outside the hospital, patients and visitors now have access to a courtyard featuring a limestone sculptural experience. Local sculptor Mike McCarthy designed the art that pays homage to the history of Norton Audubon Hospital.

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The Norton Healthcare board of trustees approved the project in September 2015, and work began in May 2016. All phases will be complete by May 2020. Laughlin Millea Hillman is serving as the architecture firm for the expansion, and Messer Construction Co. is managing the multi-year project. The project is using sustainable construction principles and a plan that results in minimal impact to the surrounding community. It also will attain Energy Star certification.

Norton Audubon Hospital is among the most active facilities in the Norton Healthcare system. The 38-year-old building was once owned by Humana, and was subsequently owned by Galen, Columbia and Columbia/HCA. It was acquired by Alliant Health System (Norton Healthcare predecessor) in 1998.