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Northwest Hospital in Randallstown is celebrating the completion of a $100 million expansion and renovation project. The event caps off a multi-year fundraising effort, called the Renaissance Campaign, that netted over $7 million in community support and grant funding. LifeBridge Health, the hospital's parent company, supplied the remaining capital funds for the project. The entire campaign has provided for the hospital's renovation and expansion to better meet the current and future needs of the surrounding community. Highlights of the facility upgrades include the recent opening of the state-of-the-art Herman & Walter Samuelson Breast Care Center in a more expansive space near the hospital's main entrance and the new Sara and David S. Brown Outpatient Services lobby.

"Over the past few years, we've made substantial capital improvements to practically every area of the hospital,” said Erik Wexler, Northwest's president and COO. "We're very grateful to our Board of Directors, medical staff, employees and patients who offered their generous donations as well as to the corporations, foundations and other community organizations that contributed to the campaign. The capital improvements they've empowered us to make will serve our community for many years to come.”

The new construction began during the summer of 2005, when the hospital built a new Cancer and Infusion Therapy Center and Intensive Care Unit. Since that time, the hospital's expansion provided for the opening of several new centers and areas including a new space for Northwest's pulmonary rehabilitation program; a new Sleep Center where sleep studies are performed; an in-hospital, fully dedicated hospice unit; and a space for LifeBridge Health's cardiac rehabilitation program. A new Intermediate Care Unit was added for patients who require more attention than a medical/surgical inpatient unit can provide but are not in need of the ICU. The hospital also expanded its Wound Care Center, which specializes in hyperbaric oxygen (HBOT) therapy; added a Rapid Evaluation Unit to its ER-7; and installed new technologies such as a 64-slice CT scanner and robotic medication storage for its pharmacy. These new additions were made in response to a growing need for community hospitals like Northwest to provide more convenient access to a wider range of care.

The hallmark of the facility upgrades is the relocated, all-new Samuelson Breast Care Center, which feels more like a spa than a clinical setting. The center makes available some of the most advanced cancer detection technologies and treatment approaches – such as digital mammography, breast MRI, breast biopsy and multi-D cancer conferences. The new center saw its first mammography patients on May 29. Starting July 1, the center will be headed by a fellowship-trained breast surgeon and new medical director, Dawn Leonard, M.D. Her expertise will add to the comprehensiveness of the center, giving patients the option to use it as their home base for all facets of cancer care as well as for their routine mammograms.

"We're thrilled to be able to provide Randallstown and other northwest Baltimore-area communities with a comprehensive breast care center,” said Wexler. "The center not only offers some of the most advanced tools for the early detection of breast cancer, but also equips diagnosed patients with the best treatment options and helps them better navigate all aspects of their care.” Finally, the Renaissance Campaign helped give the hospital a "facelift” of sorts, with the addition of a main entrance canopy, landscaping of grounds nearby, and renovation of the main lobby and most of the inpatient rooms – which are all private with flat screen televisions. The Sara and David S. Brown Lobby – unique with its use of aromatherapy and calming music to soothe visitors – was created to serve the hospi0074al's Outpatient Services area. The hospital is currently completing a renovation of its operating rooms and recovery units.

Northwest Hospital is part of LifeBridge Health, one of Baltimore's largest health organizations that includes Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, and Courtland Gardens Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. For more information, visit www.lifebridgehealth.org.