New Huntington Hospital Could Be Scaled Back in Size

As Huntington Memorial Hospital moves forward with its massive rebuilding project, downsizing it to contain 100 fewer beds has become an option, the hospital’s top administrator said last week.

A reduction in the number of beds would mean the hospital could eliminate one floor each from the twin six-story buildings initially planned, said Allen W. Mathies Jr., president and chief executive officer.

In spite of the current recession, Huntington officials have committed themselves to the rebuilding project.

However, although administrators have an idea of what the completed project will be like, essential matters such as the focus of health-care services are still being considered.

Consultants hired by the hospital will work with Huntington doctors, nurses and technologists to shape the next two phases of the project, expected to cost $75 million.

Mathies said one proposal being discussed would reduce the number of beds that the hospital provides from 600 to 500 or fewer.

“The number of beds we need for the replacement was never envisioned to increase, but maybe it should be decreased by a hundred,” Mathies said. “Maybe we should be building the equivalent of a 500-bed hospital instead of a 600-bed hospital.”

The hospital, which operates the only remaining trauma center in the San Gabriel Valley, is authorized by the state to have 606 beds.

Reducing the number of beds was just one of several proposals Mathies discussed in an interview last week. Another plan included shifting the hospital’s emphasis to more intensive-care services. Others emphasized catering more to elderly and pediatric patients.

Huntington’s rebuilding program will eventually replace the entire hospital in four phases. The first phase, which cost $75 million, was largely financed with a $50-million bond. The three-level building completed in December, 1990, included the emergency unit, intensive care, radiology, patient reception and a sophisticated maternity section.

The second phase is intended to add several stories to the first building, and phase three would add a second building mirroring the first. The fourth phase would create offices for administrative and other support services. The hospital hopes to complete phases two and three simultaneously, raising most of the money through donations.

“In the first phase, we sought money from the selling of bonds,” Mathies added. For phases two and three, “we’re going to try and incorporate a fair amount of philanthropy.”

Mathies said the proposal to decrease the number of beds, and in turn reduce the size of the new hospital, was not induced by monetary concerns. Instead, he cited a shift in health-care demands as overnight and long-term stays become less frequent with the health-care industry’s crossover to out-patient care.

The climate for a fund drive appears good in spite of the recession, he said.

“We did a feasibility study over the course of this last summer with a fund-raising consultant who felt that the community was receptive to our launching a major capital campaign in a year or so,” Mathies said.