Groundbreaking Held for $28 Million Norwood Hospital Addition After Decade of Planning-September 28, 1981

Marking the culmination of a decade of planning, political maneuvering, and regulatory reviews, ground was officially broken Saturday for a massive $28 million addition to Norwood Hospital on the former Norwood Civic Center property.

A Major Expansion on Washington Street

Around 250 community members, hospital leaders, and state officials gathered with gold shovels to celebrate the milestone. The project involves constructing two new buildings adjacent to the main hospital on Washington Street, connected by two enclosed corridors crossing over Winter Street.

The expansion features an energy plant and a modern five-story structure designed to house:

• Operating rooms and radiology departments
• A new main lobby, gift shop, dietary department, and cafeteria
• 157 beds for medical-surgical patients, pediatrics, and a surgical intensive care unit
• A new psychiatric unit and a central supply and distribution center

Overcoming Regulatory Delays

Speakers at the ceremony recounted the lengthy road required to break ground. The project was originally conceived in 1971 by the hospital’s comprehensive health planning committee, led by Carolyn A. Renwick and later John C. Fuller, who noted that while delays altered the original design, the modern facility avoids becoming an outdated “white elephant.”

The hospital officially applied for a state certificate of need in January 1977 but did not secure approval until August 1979. Addressing the lengthy bureaucratic bottleneck, Governor Edward J. King, who spoke alongside U.S. Representative John J. Moakley (D-Mass.), sharply criticized the former review board. “Seventy percent of them are gone now, and we’re eying the other 30 percent,” King said. “We have cleaned them out, as they should be.” Moakley remarked that his role was simply applying a “crowbar” to expedite the process.

Community Support and Funding

Total construction for the addition is budgeted at $17.98 million—averaging $117 per square foot—according to building committee chairman Joseph J. Lorusso. Hospital Board of Trustees President Robert Macleod dedicated the day to the many individuals who brought the project to fruition, while Administrator David Buchmueller and medical staff president Dr. Dennis J. Collins praised the collaborative effort.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger