Christiana Care’s Wilmington Hospital opened the doors on the facility’s newly constructed entrance atrium Tuesday as it nears completion of its redesign project.
State and local officials joined hospital representatives as they dedicated the atrium, named for pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, which provided $1 million to the redesign effort back in 2010.
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The skylit atrium, with a waterfall fountain and indoor garden beds, will serve as the main entrance for people visiting and working at the hospital, as well as a common area leading to the outdoor Healing Garden and the hospital-based First State School, one of three such schools catering to students with serious illnesses.
Physician-in-Chief Dr. Edmondo Robinson says the atrium’s look and feel reflect the commitment Christiana Care has made to the people Wilmington Hospital serves
“Investing in that aesthetic is very important," Dr. Robinson said. "Also it signals to the community that we’re really, really serious about this transformation. So it’s a great open space for both patients and their families, and it’s actually part of the healing process.”
The atrium is the latest piece of a major construction project that began in 2009
Robinson applauds the hospital’s staff for its work to maintain the level of patient care during the five-year process of transforming into a state-of-the-art facility.
“There’s constant change and they’ve taken care of the community; we’ve actually had an increase in our volumes during this process," he added. "And so it’s just really nice for them to start to come to some of the conclusion of all the work we’ve put into this transformation.”
The redesign will leave Wilmington Hospital with one million square feet of space, a 30 percent increase in its footprint.
That’s allowed Christiana Care to double the size of the hospital’s Emergency Department, add a new surgical suite with 13 larger operating rooms and build a new intensive care unit.
Work on the project is scheduled to be finished this spring.