Boston hospital plans $1B in upgrades, expansion

Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has big investment plans, even for a large, high-profile academic medical center. Over the next 15 years, the Harvard University teaching hospital expects to spend $1 billion to build a new suburban clinic, add 130 beds to its main campus, replace buildings at a satellite campus and upgrade facilities. Beth Israel probably will begin with the clinic, which targets patients who don't need to stay overnight. Other planned expansion moves will add about 700,000 square feet of patient care space to the hospital's 2.1 million square foot Longwood campus.

These moves are a big change from just four years ago when the hospital was selling off buildings to generate some cash. Beth Israel's inpatient volume has grown in recent years, albeit slowly, from 37,221 patients in fiscal 2002 to 39,023 in fiscal 2006. Meanwhile, clinical treatments for patients who weren't admitted shot up dramatically, from 282,261 in fiscal 2002 to 451,033 in fiscal 2006.

To learn more about the medical center's plans:
- read this article [1] from The Boston Globe

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