The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted an Albuquerque hospital to rethink some elements of its new tower layout while its still under construction.
KOAT reported that Presbyterian Hospital will redesign parts of its multimillion dollar tower, with alleviating capacity concerns a big priority.
“We're seeing occupancy rates throughout the state and in the city of over 100% daily,” Dionne Cruz Miller, hospital chief executive for Presbyterian Hospital, told the station. “It is the perfect time to be able to expand the number of beds in the system, we're going to up 200-250 beds from what we have now.”
Presbyterian will undergo changes to the room designs, as well as add outdoor spaces and move from just nine negative air pressure rooms for COVID-19 patients to an entire unit of them.
The outdoor spaces will boast a rooftop garden and courtyards.
“We need that outdoor space also to keep us safe as we're using masks etc., vaccinating of course, but it allows us to have that social connection, and also some time for meditation and privacy just to take a breath,” Cruz Miller told KOAT.
The hospital aims to open the new tower in winter of 2022.
