A man works in a ditch as a backhoe pours more fill in behind him, with the Geisinger Wyoming Valley West Emergency exit in the background. Geisinger is building a new, 160,000 square foot Medical Office building next to the hospital, erasing 300 parking spaces but adding a net gain of 175 in a new garage, with room for more if necessary
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Dr. Alfred Casale, chief medical officer for surgical services at Geisinger, explains the decision to build a new medical center next to the Wyoming Valley Hospital. The facility will handle up to 70,000 new patients a year in a variety of disciplines. Being next to the hospital makes it easier for patients whose treatment may require in-hospital care.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
A rendering of the side of the new Medical Center that will face the existing Geisinger Wyoming Valley Hospital emergency entrance.
Submitted renderings
A rendering showing the main entrance to the new Geisinger Medical Center under construction in Plains Township, with the new parking garage depicted on the left.
Submitted renderings
This rendering shows the location of the new medical center upon completion, in relation to the existing Geisinger Wyoming Valley Hospital.
Submitted renderings
PLAINS TWP. — Multiple pieces of heavy equipment thrummed in the background and Life Flight Helicopter roared overhead before it landed on the nearby hospital roof.
The construction zone consumed huge chunks of what had been parking lots, the removal of the macadam evident right near the tent hosting media, set up in a lot that abruptly ended where backhoes had swept pavement and dirt away like a child’s shovel slicing through a sand castle.
Geisinger showed off its newest Luzerne County project Wednesday under a heavily overcast sky, construction going on noisily as three administrators answered questions: Dr. Alfred Casale, chief medical officer for surgical services; Ron Beer, chief administrative officer for Geisinger’s northeast region; and Dan Landesberg, associate vice president of operations for Geisinger’s northeast region.
About 300 parking spaces have disappeared to make way for the new, 160,00 square-foot Medical Office Building, but the move will actually make parking more available and protective. Part of the project involves a garage boasting 475 spaces, with room to add another 175 if needed. The garage also makes handicap parking considerably more accessible, Beer said, because it will allow people to move from car to clinics and offices without facing the weather — and without facing a substantial grade that previously stood between some spaces and the existing hospital.
The new center will house “general surgery, vascular surgery, pulmonology, infectious diseases, neurology, pediatric neurology, neurosurgery, neurophysiology, otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat)/audiology, general internal medicine, nephrology and transplant outreach practices as well as laboratory and radiology services and a retail pharmacy,” according to a media release.
They are all disciplines with a growing need in the area, Casale said, and with an aging population, the demand is expected to keep expanding. All told, along with adding more parking space, the new center will allow about 70,000 new patient visits each year. It is expected to bring in 20 new physicians and 70 new jobs overall.
Patients, as well as family members, can expect a more comfortable, quicker check in, Beer said. Geisinger has been pilot testing new facial recognition check-in technology in north central Pennsylvania, and plans to incorporate it into the new facility, which should “relieve patients the burden of standing in line.” The facility plan calls for a new style of intake space intended to offer “a much quieter, pleasant experience.”
Being so close to the hospital will allow the center to provide care that may include “inpatient and surgical components, accommodating patients even if their treatment requires in-hospital care,” the media release said. There will also be “more than 4,000 square feet dedicated to public education, community stewardship and supporting residency programs for training top-tier physicians and nurses.”
Both Beer and Casale toted the grouping of services within the building, another feature highlighted in the media release: “Locating nephrology and transplant outreach services under one roof allows for better coordination for transplant patients who are cared for by both sets of providers. A growing pediatric neurology practice aligned with epilepsy monitoring and inpatient pediatrics at Geisinger Wyoming Valley allows patients in northeastern Pennsylvania to get all the care they need close to home and on one campus.”
Beer said one of the big factors in deciding what services to offer in the new building was looking at which services people leave the area to get. “We asked why they were leaving the area, can we build those services here? The last thing you want when sick is the additional burden of travel.”
While signs of work were extensive, they were also early, involving expansive site work The building is expected to be completed by late 2023.
Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish
