Staff and officials at Highland Hospital took the wraps off a major expansion project Wednesday.
The 127 year old hospital now has a two-story addition on the south side of its campus.
Chief Operating Officer Cindy Beck says this new part of Highland furthers their mission of providing outstanding patient and family centered care.
"Six brand new OR's, that'll be almost 700 square feet, and on the second floor is a 26-bed observation unit. So these are rooms for patients that need to be observed over 1 to 2 nights, they're all private rooms," she said.
"Better health, better service, better ability to keep people alive, better ability to help them stay well," said University of Rochester president Joel Seligman.
He says he's proud Highland Hospital is part of the U of R family, and they're also proud to help bring its OR's into the 21st century.
"It dramatically improves the ability to serve the community. It modernizes operating rooms, it increases peripheral services, and the key is, this is a great community hospital, increasingly a hospital that serves the whole region," he said.
Work on the 28-million dollar addition began in July of 2015, and the first patients will be treated in the new Operating Rooms starting November 1st.
Hospital officials say they worked closely with stakeholders and neighborhood groups over the past several years to plan and execute the expansion.
Here's a quick tour of one of the new Operating Rooms at Highland:
Here's a quick tour of the new observation unit: