Wallingford’s Gaylord Hospital unveiled a new “neighborhood of guest housing” on Tuesday that allows the long-term rehab facility to meet the needs of out-of-town families visiting loved ones who are patients.
Hospital officials cut the ribbon on a new four-bedroom guest cottage and a renovated guest house a few dozen yards from the 137-bed hospital’s main building. Donors large and small funded the $653,000 project, dubbed the MoraLee Guest Cottages and the Maximilian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Guest Cottage.
“We had to expand and add housing for this campus, so that families traveling from a distance could participate in the recovery of their loved ones while they’re here,” said Gaylord Specialty Healthcare President and CEO George Kyriacou. The hospital’s former guest housing accommodated only one family and was occupied almost every week of the year. “Injury and illness doesn’t just affect the patient, it affects the family,” he added.
Increased demand from both local and out-of-town families sparked the project due to Gaylord’s growing national footprint, according to Tara Knapp, Gaylord’s VP of development, marketing and public relations. “Families want to be as close as possible during the most acute phase of a loved one’s hospitalization,” she said.
The new building consists of four 400-square-foot bedrooms designed as hotel suites, with a entryway configured to allow for socializing and relaxation. The renovated Hoffman Guest Cottage houses one family.
“Offering onsite housing is another way that we are extending our level of care beyond the patient room and make an already stress-filled situation for families a little less taxing,” said Knapp.
In addition to the hospital, Wallingford-based Gaylord Specialty Healthcare operates outpatient therapy centers in Wallingford, North Haven and Cheshire.
Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com
