Carson Tahoe Medical Center set to expand

Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center is expanding.

The Carson City hospital is planning a 6,600-square-foot addition to the emergency room, a 21,000-square-foot expansion of the lower level, and a two-story indoor pedestrian walkway connecting the medical center with the Carson Tahoe Sierra Surgery building.

“It will improve access between the two facilities. Our patients, visitors and staff, instead of getting in their car or going via ambulance, will be able to use the walkway,” said Michelle Joy, chief operating officer, Carson Tahoe Health.

The two-story, 500-foot connector will connect to the hospital’s lower level for use by staff and non-ambulatory patients, and on the main floor between the emergency room and front entrance for visitors and ambulatory patients.

The ER expansion will add eight beds to the 29 existing ones and space for an additional physician and two nurses to be hired once demand calls for it.

The project on the lower level will add a 9,000-square-foot lab, and 12,000 square feet for the expansion of existing support services, including housekeeping, materials management, and biomedical engineering.

“We’re working through design now and tentatively start construction at the end of 2019 through the spring of 2021,” said Joy.

In the meantime, the hospital is now redoing the triage area of the ER and working on expanding the parking lot east of the main entrance by 50 spaces. A project to update all of the facility’s patient rooms with new paint, furniture, flooring, and blinds starts in February. Joy expects 50 rooms to be refreshed in 2019 and the hospital’s total 144 rooms to be completed by 2021.

In 2016, the healthcare provider created a master plan of projects for its campuses in Carson City, Dayton, and Minden, and in 2017 worked with Carson City to issue $60 million in tax-exempt bonds to fund the Carson City portion of its construction work.

“We looked at what we need to do through 2025, 2030 to meet future healthcare needs,” said Joy.

On Tuesday, the Planning Commission approved the special use permit the hospital needed to start work on the estimated $40 million expansions and walkway at its Carson City campus.

Carson Tahoe Health last year finished projects in Dayton, where a second clinic and physician and nurse practitioner were added, and in Minden, where the registration area and lab were remodeled and two emergent care rooms added.

The healthcare company’s Reno clinic was moved from McCarran Boulevard to an office on Professional Circle, which opened Jan. 3.