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Norwood Hospital will open its impressive new building for public inspection in November, with hospital officials announcing that construction is expected to be finished by then, though patients will not be admitted until January and a formal dedication ceremony is planned for the spring. Staff, trustees, volunteers, and their families will receive an exclusive tour on November 19, followed by a public open house on November 20. If you can come in here and compare with what’s in Boston, then you’ll see your community hospital has everything that you need, remarked hospital communications director Marjorie Clapprood.
The $18.4 million construction project encompasses a five-level building and an adjacent power plant situated on the 5.6-acre site of the former Norwood Civic Center, forming part of an overarching $28 million modernization program that also includes the $2.5 million previously paid to the town for the land. That’s the total cost of bringing the hospital right up into the ’90s, Marjorie Clapprood noted. Associate Administrator David Meadows reported that $4.3 million had already been raised in local donations ranging from a few dollars to $100,000—a fundraising milestone he described as pretty unheard of in Norfolk County—with the bulk of the remaining cost financed through tax-exempt bonds.
The massive addition adds 154,000 square feet of new space (including a 6,000-square-foot power plant), expanding the entire hospital complex to roughly 350,000 square feet and resulting in a net gain of fifty-five patient beds for a total capacity of 320 beds. The 155 new beds offset the closure of approximately 100 older beds in the hospital’s historic East Wing. Modern features include an open-air atrium and courtyard overlooked by patient rooms on the upper two stories, balconies off two solariums, a pediatric playroom, a psychiatric treatment unit, six operating rooms, and four advanced elevators, including two high-speed cars and two full-size beds-accommodating units.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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