Campaign Goals

Expanding Paoli Hospital to Meet Demand and Maintain High Standards

Each month, 700 new families move into our community, and residents of the Main Line, Chester County and surrounding areas are increasingly choosing Paoli Hospital for their care:

In the past five years alone, the number of admissions to the Hospital has risen from 10,276 to 12,630, an increase of 23 percent
Visits to the Emergency Department increased 25 percent from 26,214 to 32,875
Total number of surgeries rose 25 percent, with the number of open-heart surgeries being a significant part of our growth
The number of adult patients over the age of 65 is expected to grow by 13,859 between 2007 and 2012, an increase of 19 percent
The population within Paoli' service area is expected to grow by nearly 37,000, or 7.6%, still one of the fastest in Pennsylvania.

Given our current needs, trends in healthcare and future projections, Paoli Hospital must expand its current facilities to meet the health care needs of our growing community and to maintain our high standards of care.

Over the last few decades, healthcare has taken a tremendous leap forward, bringing new life-saving technologies that were not available even a few years ago. Medical advances have been especially significant in areas such as surgery and critical care, which serve patients with the greatest needs.

Paoli Hospital has always invested in the latest equipment to keep our programs and services up to date. In certain key departments, however, we offer twenty first century care in spaces built to the standards of an earlier era. We now have a remarkable opportunity to build emergency, operating and patient rooms that:

Accommodate both current and future medical technologies
Incorporate "evidence-based design"—special features to promote patient safety and recovery time based on research and best practices in the field of healthcare

Paoli Hospital has carefully considered all of these issues while planning our new Pavilion through consultations with our staff, other hospitals and design experts. In April 2007, we broke ground for the four-story building that will create a transformed environment for the care of Paoli's patients when it opens this summer. In November 2007, we held our Topping Off Ceremony celebrating the placement of the final steel beam on top of the new Pavilion.

New Emergency Department

Community members of all ages come to Paoli's Emergency Department every day for problems ranging from minor sprains to life-threatening chest pain.

Board-certified Emergency Medicine physicians, skilled nurses and other specially trained staff care for patients with a complex range of medical needs around the clock.

The Hospital expects to treat 32,000 emergency cases this year, and 44,000 by 2017.

Limitations of Paoli's current Emergency Department

Built 23 years ago to handle 18,000 patients a year (one-half of the current volume)
After maximizing all available space in our Emergency Department, on busy days patients still need to wait for care, or the hospital is forced to "divert" ambulances to other hospitals

Highlights of the New Emergency Department

Easily accessible on the ground floor of the new Pavilion
Number of treatment rooms will expand from 16 to 28
More patient/family-focused design in all areas
Easy, user-friendly registration process
More comfortable patient/family reception areas
Private conference rooms for families to talk with physicians, nurses and social workers
Imaging equipment to provide quicker diagnoses and treatment
A "fast-track" area specifically to treat patients with less serious conditions

New Surgical Department

Paoli Hospital's highly skilled surgeons and surgical nurses are busy in the Operating Rooms from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., performing complex procedures such as:

Open-heart surgeries
Cancer surgeries
Neurosurgery
Hip and knee replacements

Last year, Paoli surgeons performed over 6,500 operations and we expect to exceed 11,000 within 10 years.

Limitations of Paoli's current Operating Suites

Built to handle 5,000 operations annually
Some rooms built 20 years ago to standards of an earlier time
Cannot efficiently house high-tech equipment essential for modern surgery

Highlights of the New Surgical Suite

Easily accessible on the first floor of the new Pavilion
Number of operating rooms will expand from 8 to 12
Equipped for specialties such as heart, orthopedics and urology
More comfortable areas for patients before and after surgery
More isolation rooms for infection control
Conference room for surgical education
Location above the new Emergency Department and below the new Intensive Care Unit will improve flow of patients, so critically ill patients receive priority care
Leading-edge facilities will continue to attract top-quality surgeons

New Intensive Care Unit

Paoli Hospital's Intensive Care Unit treats some of the most critically ill patients in the Hospital:

Patients with heart attacks and strokes
Patients recovering from open-heart surgery and other serious operations

Limitations of Current Intensive Care Unit

Built 25 years ago
14-bed unit no longer sufficient to serve our patient population
Average daily number of patients has more than doubled
Nationwide, intensive care has changed dramatically—more room is needed to accommodate new technologies at patient's bedside
Little space available for families

Highlights of New Intensive Care Unit

28 patient rooms, double the size of the current unit
All private rooms, in keeping with latest standards in critical care
Rooms built on principles of evidence-based design to meet unique needs of patients, families and specialists
Waiting areas for visiting families and friends—larger and more comfortable
Private consultation rooms for physicians and other specialists to discuss patient care issues with families
Easily accessible for emergency and surgical patients

New Private Patient Unit

More and more people in our community are choosing Paoli Hospital when they need medical care. Our number of patients admitted to the hospital for care is expected to increase from 9,900 this year to more than 17,000 annually 10 years from now. To serve these patients, we will built a 32-private room patient care unit on the third floor of the new Pavilion and constructed a 64-private room unit on the new fourth floor for future needs.

Now considered the highest standard of care, private rooms contribute to a patient's recovery by promoting rest and by reducing the risk of infection, falls and medical errors.

Other Planned Improvements

A new Arrivals Pavilion and 737-space parking garage with an enclosed connector bridge

…For a Hospital Recognized for Its High Standards

Awarded Magnet® status by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for excellence in nursing care, an award granted to only 200 of the nation's 6,000 hospitals
For two years in a row, Paoli was one of only 20 hospitals in the nation (among 1,000 mid-sized hospitals) to be named a Top 100 Hospital® by Solucient, a provider of healthcare data and analysis

A Shared Responsibility: Our Community's Medical Care

Today's hospital is expected to accomplish two extraordinary feats:

Manage costs like a business
Provide care like a family

As reflected in our high patient satisfaction scores, and the funds we have saved for reinvesting in our facilities, Paoli Hospital has managed to achieve both. However, our new Pavilion will cost an extraordinary $145 million, the most ambitious undertaking in Paoli's history. To accomplish this, we will need a combination of the following:

Our own savings, past and future, will be reinvested into this important project, covering $100 million of the cost
Prudent borrowing: a manageable level of debt ($30 million) will allow us to move forward with this expansion
Community support: we have launched a $16.5 million capital campaign to support the most significant expansion in Paoli's history

We encourage you to make a gift to support our Expansion Campaign. Please call 610-648-1465 or download our contribution form.