January 12, 2024

Parking Advisory – Cooley Dickinson Hospital

January 12, 2024

Beginning Monday, Jan. 15, construction crews will begin to stage the equipment needed for the hospital’s Emergency Department expansion and renovation project. The first step in this 20+-month project will be to set up fencing in the parking lot across from the Emergency Department entrance (parking lot A).

“We anticipate some impact to patient parking,” said VP of Operations Tony Scibelli, “depending on when people visit, there will be fewer parking spaces than usual.”

Patients and visitors are encouraged to park in lots A and B.  The electronic gates in parking lot B will be turned off during this time to accommodate the loss of parking spaces in lot A.   People seeking care or visiting loved ones in the North Building should park in lot H.  Click here to view the hospital’s campus map. 

At this point in the project, patients needing emergency care should continue to enter the Emergency Department through their dedicated Emergency entrance. With the addition of the staging area in the hospital parking lot, there is no impact to the traffic pattern in front of the Emergency Department for cars or ambulances.

Why a New Emergency Department is Necessary

Cooley Dickinson is expected to serve approximately 40,000 emergency department patients this year. That care will be provided in a 1970s-era building that was designed for 17,000 patients annually and is currently 40% undersized. A shortage of space means that some patients are treated in hallways.

The Emergency Department also needs to expand its services to care for an aging population (three times the population from 10 years ago). In addition, the expansion will provide additional beds for people experiencing mental health emergencies.

Artistic rendering of renovated emergency room at Cooley Dickinson Hospital.
A rendering of the new Cooley Dickinson Hospital Emergency Department Entrance.

Quick Facts

Current State:When Completed:
  • 15,620 square feet
  • 23 rooms with 26 beds
  • 17 individual rooms
  • 5 beds in shared spaces
  • 4 behavioral health beds
  • 22,220 square feet
  • 32 rooms with 32 beds
  • All individual rooms
  • 2 new behavioral health beds
  • 2 new beds that can be used for behavioral health patients or general patients, depending on the needs that day
  • 4 new patient treatment spaces in dedicated low acuity area
  • Suite for a CT scanner and X-rays and ultrasound