The Hospital for Special Care in New Britain is in expansion mode.
The 228-bed rehabilitation and long-term acute and chronic care hospital is preparing for two major capital projects including a $5.9 million outpatient center that could break ground in the spring.
The not-for-profit hospital is also looking to build an $8 million inpatient autism center.
Both projects, hospital officials said, are aimed at making more space available for a growing patient base that has been increasing at an annual rate of about 7 percent.
With about 30,000 annual patient visits, demand has been on the rise for outpatient services in particular, officials said.
“More and more people are being treated on an outpatient basis,” said Lynn Ricci, the hospital’s senior vice president of administration. “The goal is to keep people living in the community as long as possible.”
Ricci said the hospital is raising funds for the outpatient center, with the hope the campaign will also help pay for expanded services. So far the drive is about 70 percent of the way to the $5.9 million goal and hospital officials expect to be able to break ground on the expansion this spring.
The center will be called the Hoffman Outpatient Center, named after its largest donor, The Maximilian E. & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, which provided $1 million for the project.
Most of the funds are being raised through donations, which is a common practice for small community hospitals that lack access to capital markets.
The center will be a 14,000-square-foot addition to the hospital’s New Britain campus and offer primary care services for children and adults with chronic illnesses including Parkinson’s disease and other neuromuscular conditions such as muscular dystrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. There will also be outpatient autism care services offered.
In addition to the outpatient center, the hospital is also planning an $8 million inpatient autism center.
Ricci said the hospital has been looking to add an autism center for a number of years to help fill a gap in care that exists for patients with the developmental disorder.
There is also a skyrocketing need to care for children living with autism. In Connecticut, more than 5,000 children under the age of 21 are identified as being on the Autism Spectrum, Ricci said, not including preschool children.
The center is being developed with the input and collaboration from an advisory council that includes advocates, providers, state government officials as well as academic institutions including Yale School of Medicine, St. Joseph College, and Southern Connecticut State University, Ricci said.
The center will provide services that will diagnose, treat and help coordinate care for autistic children. The first phase of the center will include a presence in the outpatient facility, expected to open early next year, Ricci said. That will be followed by second-phase plans for the state’s first and only inpatient facility for autistic children.
The Hospital for Special Care hasn’t begun raising funds to pay for the projected $8 million building, but could get some state aid to spur the project forward, Ricci said.
In addition to full diagnostic evaluations, the autism center plans to offer psychological and academic evaluations as well as occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech and language therapy.
Once the Autism Center opens, HSC will accept patients who are at least two years of age.
