Town Applauds Plans for New Emergency Medical Facility

Yale-New Haven Hospital does not have the authority to open its new emergency care facility in North Haven yet, but the town is excited about the prospects. At the first Yale Information meeting at Town Hall yesterday, First Selectman Mike Freda welcomed two members of Yale New-Haven who spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of area business leaders about the proposed facility it plans to open at 6 Devine Street.

Vin Petrini, the hospital’s senior vice president of public affairs administration, spoke briefly about the new emergency center, which he said will meet the growing demand for services in the region, especially for the 60+ demographic.

Norm Roth, the hospital’s senior vice president of administration, who joked that he was part of that demographic, took center stage, outlining the hospital’s plan for the emergency center while displaying an array of floor plans and aerial shots of the center, which will occupy the former AT&T building.

Roth noted that the emergency center will be fairly easy to construct since the existing building can be used. It features 13 ½ foot ceilings and a 30 ft. column bay, which are ideal for medical facilities.

The facility has an existing 512 surface parking spots, a number sufficient for a medical facility.

Yale’s Guilford shoreline clinic, which is the model for the North Haven facility, handles 12 ambulance trips per day, which Roth said are not very significant. But he said sirens may be needed for some of them, which could create a noise problem.

The facility will occupy the first and half of the second floor of the existing building with the third and fourth floors possibly to be leased to other medical companies.

Roth said Yale's North Haven facility will be open 16 hours a day from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., with 24-hour operation to come with volume growth.

Yale-New Haven is currently in the needs analysis stage of the operation where it must satisfy a state Department of Public Health mandate. Roth said the hospital has completed the first series of questions and will complete the second within a couple of weeks. He hopes to have the process completed by June.

Local approvals “will follow the same time table,” he said, and construction bids will follow. His goal is to start construction in September or October and open the 120,000 square foot facility next July.

Mid-State hospital could challenge Yale’s needs analysis, but Roth said, “We’ve had discussions with them and they understand what we’re doing. I don’t expect them to be at the hearing."

Mid-State may have been behind the rejection of St. Raphael's Hospital bid to open an emergency clinic in North Haven a few years ago, but Roth noted the proposed location on Washington Ave. was close to the other hospital, while the Yale facility is further south, 8 1/2 miles from Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven.

Also, the St. Raphael’s facility “didn’t have the broad scope of services we plan,” he said.

The new facility will be an economic boon to North Haven and create many jobs.

“There are no specific numbers but a sizable number will be hired,” Roth said, including security officers, housekeeping and food service staffs, emergency medical, x-ray and lab technicians and nurses.

The health care reform of the Obama administration has transformed the way health care will be delivered, and the new Yale-New Haven facility will change the way it’s delivered locally. “We want to be a part of the North Haven community,” Roth said.

Freda encouraged local citizens to take action to insure Yale-New Haven can open the North Haven facility.

“Write letters to newspapers, speak out at public meetings, support it in every phase from this point forward,” he said.

Last night’s meeting was for business leaders. Another meeting for the general public is planned for this evening at 5:30 p.m.