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BENNINGTON â As hoped, Southwestern Vermont Health Careâs planned $26 million Emergency Department modernization project has won certificate of need approval from the Green Mountain Care Board prior to the end of 2020.
The project will expand the currently undersized department, reconfigure the main entrance to Southwestern Vermont Medical Center and nearby hospital department and include parking and access road improvements. A spring 2021 groundbreaking is planned, with construction expected to be completed in 2023.
SVHC President and CEO Thomas Dee noted that the current Emergency Department was designed in the mid-1990s to accommodate 12,000 to 13,000 patients per year, but that figure recently has averaged about 23,700.