Dispensing with the shovels and cutting the ribbon at the groundbreaking ceremony for Gouverneur Healthcare Services’ modernization and expansion project on Sept. 22, were, from left, Alan D. Aviles, Health and Hospitals Corporation president; Rosie Mendez, city councilmember; Alan Gerson, city councilmember; Josephine Bolus, R.N., H.H.C. board member; Marcia Brown, M.D., H.H.C. board member; Lynda Curtis, H.H.C. South Manhattan Network senior vice president; Sheldon Silver, speaker of the state Assembly; and Mendel Hagler, Gouverneur executive director.

Major makeover for Gouverneur during next 4 years

Local elected officials and Health and Hospitals Corporation representatives joined Gouverneur Healthcare Services administrators last week in breaking ground at 227 Madison St. on Gouverneur’s four-year, $180 million modernization project.

The project will create 85 new nursing-home beds and expand primary, preventive healthcare service capacity by 15 percent for the Lower Manhattan and Chinatown community.

Gouverneur Healthcare Services currently includes a long-term-care nursing facility and New York City’s largest, municipally run community health center.

The renovated facility will house The Center for Community Health and Wellness, a new ambulatory-care pavilion, designed to serve more than 345,000 outpatient visits a year — a 15 percent increase from its current capacity. The health center will feature a state-of-the-art, 30,000-square-foot Women and Children’s Center, a dialysis center, a new CT scan area and space for a full-spectrum, ambulatory-surgery center.

A computer rendering showing how the exterior of Gouverneur’s 227 Madison St. facility will appear after the four-year, expansion and modernization project.

The project will also create The Residence at Gouverneur Court, a modern nursing facility that will represent the next generation of long-term care with its homelike spaces, private rooms and suites. The addition will increase Gouverneur’s number of nursing-home beds to 295.

Mendel Hagler, Gouverneur’s executive director, said, “The modernization project reflects Gouverneur’s commitment to provide patients with top-notch care in a comfortable, safe environment.”

The new facilities were designed by RMJM Hillier Architects and will be constructed by Hunter-Roberts Construction Company. The New York State Dormitory Authority will be construction manager.

Said Steve Gifford, design-studio director for RMJM Hillier: “The innovative design has been tailored to Gouverneur’s patients — approximately three-quarters of whom are Hispanic or Asian — which will ensure that Gouverneur remains connected and engaged with the local community.”