'Community town hall' by McKee will lay out next steps for Zambarano wing of Eleanor Slater

PROVIDENCE − On the day ahead of the Rhode Island Senate's confirmation vote for Richard Charest, the director of the agency that runs the state-run Eleanor Slater Hospital, the McKee administration has announced the next step in the anticipated $108-million construction of a new 110-bed long-term care hospital on the Burrillville campus.

On Monday, Gov. Dan McKee announced plans for a "community town hall" at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22 to brief the public "about the preliminary findings" of a feasibility study the state commissioned to "identify the care needs of Rhode Islanders, as well as the scope and size of the project."

Spokesman Randal Edgar told The Journal that the "Faulkner Consulting Group is conducting a feasibility study and comprehensive review of the state’s needs ... at a cost of approximately $300,000, using the funds allocated for the new facility. Once this is complete, the second step will be for [the state] to conduct a review of architectural and engineering options to determine the size and scope of the project."

The meeting will center on the state's plans so far for a new building on the sprawling state-owned hospital campus on Wallum Lake in Burrillville that is home to the Zambarano wing of the hospital. The Zambarano Campus includes buildings totaling 307,000 square feet on 460 acres of land.

State lawmakers' $108,232,095 multi-year on commitment envisioned the construction of a brand new 110-bed building on the lakefront property, and the eventual demolition of the existing building that has been the home for decades for many of the patients at Zambarano with life-altering conditions and injuries.

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A House budget write-up last June said: "The Department indicates that the current building is not suitable for renovation into a medical facility that would meet compliance with current standards.

"The Department further notes that the project estimate is based on similar facilities in Massachusetts andthe recently completed Veteran Home, adjusted for current construction costs. However, the estimate isstill preliminary and actual project costs would be determined once design is complete."

"Once construction is finalized," the governor's office said Monday, "the new facility will replace current operations in the Beazley building. Patients and staff currently in the Beazley building will transition to the new facility. It is expected that this new project will broaden capabilities and create new jobs at Eleanor Slater Hospital."

Plans for the enhanced services and new facility at Eleanor Slater Hospital will be fully developed once the comprehensive review of the state’s needs is completed. The results of this study will inform a review of architectural and engineering options and determine the size and scope of the project.

In December, there were 75 beds available for patients at Zambarano, but it is not clear if that is the total capacity in the existing building. It is also unclear whether there will ultimately be room for more − or fewer − patients in the new building.

But in a statement released by the governor's office, Charest, the director of the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, said: “This represents exciting news for Eleanor Slater Hospital, and for the State of Rhode Island ... building a new, modern facility at the Burrillville campus will enable our dedicated teams to meet the care needs of more Rhode Islanders.

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"It will also expand our services and allow us to offer care options that we do not presently have. Gaining our community’s input is a critical component to the success of this process.”

The Feb. 22 meeting will be held both virtually (Microsoft Teams Meeting ID: 243 595 038 577 and Passcode: P6tNkt) and in person at the Beazley Building Medical Library, 2090 Wallum Lake Rd., Pascoag.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Eleanor Slater's Zambarano wing next steps: McKee laying out possibilities