Fletcher Allen plans new inpatient building

Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington envisions the construction of a new building with 128 private rooms, above the entrance to the emergency department and the current emergency department parking lot.

The Burlington Development Review Board took an initial look at the plans on Tuesday.

The 160,000-square-foot building would replace current beds on two floors in the hospital’s Shepardson building, which dates to 1961.

“This replacement, as outlined in the Fletcher Allen Master Facility Plan, is the first of several planned bed replacement facilities at the Medical Center Campus which may occur over the coming decades,” the hospital wrote in an application to the city.

Private rooms improve patient privacy and confidentiality, reduce possible noise complaints, help reduce the risk of infection, and allow space for equipment as well as space and amenities for patients’ family members, said David Keelty, the hospital’s director of facilities and development.

“Currently 42 percent of our rooms are what we call private rooms,” Keelty said. “We want to get to 90 percent or better, and that’s what we hope to do with this project.”

Fletcher Allen is not planning to add parking spaces or hire additional medical or clinical full-time-equivalent staff for the new building, according to documents submitted to the city.

The building would include a skybridge to the McClure building as well as a connection to the hospital’s Ambulatory Care Center.

Ambulances and other vehicles would still have access to the emergency department.

The proposed building’s proximity to Converse Hall, a University of Vermont dormitory that was built in 1895 and listed on the State Register of Historic Places, has added some complexity to the plans.

Fletcher Allen altered the initial design to make sure that Converse Hall would still be visible from the UVM campus. The hospital also consulted historic preservation expert Liz Pritchett, who said the plans would not seem to have significant negative impacts on the character of Converse Hall.

However, Burlington senior planner Mary O’Neil raised some concerns.

“There will be some incursion into the traditional viewshed of historic Converse, however, which was traditionally and historically viewed from the east,” O’Neil wrote in a memo. “It may be appropriate to entertain mitigation for the increasing encroachment toward Converse Hall, including listing Converse Hall on the National Register of Historic Places, to further protect this important resource.”

The review meeting Tuesday was a chance for Fletcher Allen and its design team to present the plans to the Development Review Board and solicit feedback early in the planning process.

Pending all approvals, the hospital anticipates that construction would begin in fall 2015 and cost about $88.6 million.

Contact April Burbank at (802) 660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank