Growing pains?

St. Anthony investigating feasibility of move, By Linda Smith Hancharick Warwick — St. Anthony Community Hospital has been a part of Warwick since 1939. As the community grew, so did the hospital. In 1977 an addition was built. Just this year, the hospital cut the ribbon on its new same-day surgery expansion. Now, the hospital administration is looking toward the future again, this time at a possible relocation to the 80-acre property on Route 94 known as the Miller Farm. “This is in the very, very preliminary stages,” said Ann Lombardi-Nathan, the hospital’s director of public relations. “Part of what you do when you are thinking about something like this is look at the feasibility issues.” Two such issues are whether the hospital could get Village of Warwick water and sewer services to the proposed site, which sits outside of the village on Route 94 near Leo Kaytes Ford and ShopRite. At its meeting Monday night, the Village Board discussed the hospital’s request for information on whether there is enough capacity to provide approximately 200,000 gallons per day to a new 110-bed hospital facility. That is an estimate projected from the hospital and is equal to a 20 percent increase in capacity. “Can you afford a 20 percent increase in your capacity?” asked Michael Meth, the village’s attorney. “It could be cost-prohibitive to extend the district infrastructure that far,” said Mayor Michael Newhard, something the hospital would be responsible for if there is enough water and sewer capacity to go forward. And the process is a long one. A formal application would have to be made to the village, which would be lead agency. A State Environmental Quality Review would be done and permits would have to be secured from the Department of Environmental Conservation and the county Health Department. But that is way down the road. According to Lombardi-Nathan, the hospital, which is part of the Bon Secours Charity Health System, currently has 93 beds. Management has been in negotiations to buy the Miller property for some time and is in the final stages of due diligence, that is determining if all of the infrastructure necessary to complete the project would be available at the new site. The village will now look into the capacity at its sewer plant, its reservoirs and the cost of extending the district. The hospital does not own the property and has no concrete plans to do anything just yet, according to Lombardi-Nathan. Hospital officials are simply looking and researching. “There is nothing in stone. We are looking at the possibility of 100 to 110 beds in a new facility,” said Lombardi-Nathan. “We don’t want the public to think we are further along than we are. This is very preliminary.” She said there has been no determination made for what would happen to the current hospital building which recently underwent a $9.5 million renovation, but said it would be in keeping with the village’s Architectural Review Board and the zoning. “Demographics show our community is growing in leaps and bounds,” said Lombardi-Nathan. “Health care is moving in many directions. We have been a part of this community since 1939 and we have responded to the needs of the community. We’ve grown because the community has grown. Our concern is what is best for our community. We are invested in this community.”