Beth Israel Lahey Health Plans $79.5M Expansion at Burlington Campus

Beth Israel Lahey Health is planning to invest $79.5 million at its Lahey Hospital & Medical Center campus.

The state’s second-largest health system said in a state filing that it wants to construct a new inpatient unit with 36 new beds, create a new cardiac lab and buy a new CT machine. The plan, detailed in a Determination of Need, is subject to approval from the state’s Department of Public Health. 

In its filing, Lahey said that adding new inpatient beds will improve throughput, or the ability to move patients from the emergency department to an admitted space. Lahey said its emergency department is growing increasingly overcrowded; emergency department boarding hours have increased by over 50% since 2022, according to the filing. 

“By increasing available inpatient capacity, the hospital will be able to move admitted patients out of the ED more efficiently, reducing ED overcrowding and wait times,” the filing said. 

Beth Israel and Lahey Health merged and became one health system in 2019. 

Lahey’s Burlington campus currently has 333 licensed inpatient beds, and according to the filing is regularly at nearly 115% capacity. Lahey projects that the expansion would bring it to 106% capacity in the first year. 

Lahey said the proposed expansion is the maximum amount it could add in its existing space through renovations. The proposed new beds would also include 8 observation beds.

The inpatient expansion is the most costly expenditure in the hospital’s filing, with over $50 million in projected costs. The hospital also asked the state for approval to construct a new cardiac catheterization procedure lab on its main Burlington campus, as well as the purchase of a CT for its satellite facility in Peabody.

Article via Boston Business Journal