Johnson Memorial to renovate and expand its Enfield campus
Jan. 2—Johnson Memorial Hospital is expanding and renovating its Enfield campus with a $40 million construction project, even as its Stafford facility comes under fire from the state for closing its maternity ward and failing to staff its operating rooms for much of last year.
The upgrades at the Hazard Avenue facility in Enfield include four modern operating rooms, expanded lab services, primary care, 24 exam rooms, and specialty suites in urology, radiology, and rehabilitation.
Hospital officials say they expect the construction project to be completed by February 2024.
There are four buildings currently on the Enfield campus — the Karen Davis Kryznowek Cancer Center, Johnson Medical Office Building, Nirenberg Medical Center, and the Johnson Surgery Center. The existing footprint is about 66,000 square feet.
Once the project is complete, there will be an additional 38,000 square feet, with renovations and expansions to the cancer center, the S. Prestley and Helen Blake Ambulatory Care Center, and upgraded surgery center, as well as additional medical office space.
The new office space will have a station where blood can be drawn for lab work.
All services at the Enfield campus will be available during construction, with the exception of outpatient cancer services, hospital officials say.
The cancer center sustained water damage due to a burst pipe last winter, forcing it to close and the hospital to redirect patients to other locations, said Mary Orr, spokeswoman for Trinity Health of New England, the parent company for Johnson Memorial and St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford.
Inpatient surgical services was halted at Johnson Memorial in Stafford early in 2022 due to staff shortages, but resumed early in December, Orr said.
Orr said the Enfield campus provides only outpatient surgical services, so there was no interruption to those services at that facility.
Johnson Memorial Hospital was acquired by Trinity Health of New England in 2016.
It has come under fire from the state Office of Health Strategy, and is facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for closing its birthing unit without first seeking state approval. The amount owed is in dispute, and a ruling is pending.
Hospital staff, meanwhile, say they are committed to the healthcare of the rural community, as it converts much of its Stafford campus to geriatric and mental health care.
"We remain committed to meeting the ever-changing health care needs of the greater Stafford community and to being the 'hospital of choice' for our patients," said Dr. Robert Roose, chief administrative officer of Johnson Memorial Hospital and Mercy Medical Center. "We are optimistic that the resumption of inpatient and emergency surgical services will be another demonstration of that commitment."
For more coverage of Somers and Enfield, follow Susan Danseyar on Twitter: @susandanseyar, Facebook: Susan Danseyar, reporter.
