State Senator Tommy Tomlinson presents $3 million state funding for Aria Health-Torresdale, which will be used to expand the emergency department and increase parking, Wednesday, July 25, 2012, Philadelphia, Pa. (Maria Pouchnikova)
There were smiles all around one day last week, as Aria Health officials accepted a fat check from two state lawmakers.
State Sens. Mike Stack, a Democrat, and Robert M. “Tommy” Tomlinson, a Republican, brought an oversized check for $3 million from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program to the Torresdale campus on the morning of July 25.
The funds gladly were accepted by Aria president and CEO Kathleen Kinslow and Bob Truitt, chairman of the board of directors.
Some of the money already has been spent. Aria used $1 million toward construction of a new $9 million parking garage at the Torresdale campus.
The garage was completed last summer, and now there is abundant parking — almost 400 new spaces for an overall increase in parking capacity of 25 percent.
“It was quite an issue in the past,” Kinslow said.
The remainder of the money will be used as part of a $37 million project to expand the emergency department.
By March 2014, the department will see an increase from 30 to 42 hospital beds. At the same time, patient evaluation and treatment will be streamlined for both minor and major care.
Two-hundred jobs will be created.
“We’re very impressed by the plan,” Stack said.
Aria also has campuses in Frankford and Langhorne, along with a network of outpatient centers and primary care physicians. It employs about 4,000 people, including 1,500 at Torresdale.
Tomlinson, of Bucks County, said a lot of people from his hometown of Bensalem use the Torresdale campus, adding that the expansion should cut down on waiting time.
The lawmaker explained that his daughter recently had to use the emergency room at Torresdale for a condition that resulted in a five-day hospital stay.
“They took tremendous care of her,” he said.
Truitt was joined by board vice chairman Craig Lewis, who was Tomlinson’s predecessor in the Senate.
The board chairman said members are committed to raising money for more than simply bricks and mortar. He spoke of the “human capital” — the doctors, nurses, technicians and others who stood to the side in the main lobby as the hospital and elected officials exchanged formal pleasantries.
The emergency department expansion, Truitt believes, will empower employees to do better work.
“Patient care is what it’s all about,” he said.
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215–354–3034 or [email protected]
