NorthBay Architect Joelyn Gropp, director of Facilities Development, and Dave Mathews, director of Plant Operations and General Services, display a model of the new NorthBay VacaValley Hospital.

Entering the final stages of securing financing, NorthBay Healthcare hopes to have everything in place by late summer to begin construction on a $118 million expansion and modernization of NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville.

In late March, a team from the Department of Housing and Urban Development conducted a thorough review and analysis of current operations and properties. NorthBay is seeking a federal guarantee of bonds it will sell to finance the project.

“The team left with a positive outlook of our operations and our fiscal ability to succeed with this expansion in Vacaville,” said Art DeNio, vice president and chief financial officer. “We hope to have it all tied together in a few weeks.”

A two-story, 68,000-square-foot addition to the Vacaville hospital comprises new space and renovation of 13,500 current square footage. When completed the hospital will add 24 beds and four modern surgical suites. An upgrade to the central utility plan is also part ovf the project, as are additional parking areas.

NorthBay VacaValley Hospital will add sophisticated medical services and be primed to add a Level 2 trauma center when construction is completed in late 2013 or early 2014. (See story on trauma services next page.)

“Our Vacaville campus will be a center of excellence for trauma and emergency medical services, for orthopedics with our Joint Replacement Program and eventually for neurosurgery,” explained Gary Passama, NorthBay Healthcare President/CEO “It has been part of our strategic plan for years to add trauma and to increase the advanced medical services in Vacaville.”

Some parking additions were finished earlier this year in preparation of the two-year construction cycle and the loss of existing parking that will occur during that time. More parking will be added in the future.