Grand opening and ground breaking ceremony held

The grand opening of a dramatic steel-and-glass Welcome Pavilion became the backdrop for a ground breaking ceremony Nov 16, heralding the beginning of a four-year modernization project at Northbay Health Northbay Medical Center.

Northbay Health board members and city and county officials posed with golden shovels and turned dirt for photos to mark the official beginning of construction of a three-story hospital wing, and renovation, which will turn the hospital’s previous lobby into a much larger Emergency Department.

“None of this would have been possible if not for the clear-sighted leadership and guidance provided by our board of directors during the past six decades,” said Gary Passama, Northbay Health President and CEO.

The Welcome Pavilion has been carefully designed with color, artwork and furnishing to provide a calm and relaxing patient experience. It features an electronic way-finding kiosk to help patients navigate through the medical center, a private patient registration area and a brand-new Northbay Guild Gift Shop.

“This pavilion is simply a harbinger of the new hospital that Northbay Medical Center will become in the next few years as we invest nearly $200 million to bring more advanced medicine to the Fairfield and Suisun City communities,” said Konard Jones, President of Northbay Health Group and future CEO of the organization.

The new 77,000-square-foot wing will include six new state-of-the-art operating rooms, two new cardiac catheterization labs, a modern cafeteria with indoor and outdoor seating, nutrition services, diagnostic imaging and supply rooms. Also included are 22 new “patient rooms of the future” featuring the latest technology in healthcare, and 16 more post-acute care beds.

Work is now underway transforming the old hospital lobby into a 7,000-square-foot expansion of the Emergency Department, which will open in early 2019. The addition will add 10 new treatment bays to the facility, for a total of 26.

Architect for the project is Ratcliff Architects of Emeryville; contractor is DPR Construction of Sacramento.