Sentara Leigh's $126M revamp to begin next month

NORFOLK

Sentara Leigh Hospital's makeover is set to begin next month with a few changes from the original plans.

Over the next four years, workers will build a new hospital on the site of the 34-year-old Kempsville Road facility. Sentara Leigh will continue providing care for patients throughout the construction.

The $126 million project will increase the hospital's size by more than 40 percent to 517,000 square feet; however, the number of patient beds will remain 250. The new construction follows recent renovations to the surgery and emergency departments that cost $20.5 million.

The design, which resembles that of the new Sentara Princess Anne Hospital in Virginia Beach, includes a new parking deck for staff members, two five-story towers for inpatient rooms, a 48-bed orthopedic and rehabilitation center, and an internal garden.

Plans from last year called for building a single tower for inpatient rooms. Sentara leaders changed the design to improve efficiency, lower the building height and provide space for the garden, said Terrie L. Edwards, president of Sentara Leigh.

Patient rooms will be more than twice the size of those in the current facility and will feature private bathrooms and overnight accommodations for families. Separate corridors for patients and visitors will be built to improve privacy.

Construction begins next month on the parking deck, and a groundbreaking on the first patient tower is expected in March. The project is scheduled to be completed in January 2016, Edwards said.

Amy Jeter, (757) 446-2730, amy.jeter@pilotonline.com