BOND has been hired to provide construction management services for Lawrence General Hospital's (LGH) new, 42,250 s/f surgical building as part of a $72 million effort to improve healthcare delivery and expand the reach of the hospital and its services. The new facility was approved unanimously by LGH's board of trustees and will look to strengthen LGH's position as a leading medical center in the Merrimack Valley. Twice the size of the existing surgical suite, the building will house six operating rooms, including an interventional radiology room. State-of-the-art imaging and digital support technology will be incorporated throughout the facility, improving LGH staff's ability to perform complex vascular, cardiac, and neurosurgery. BOND's team will work closely with LGH representatives and design firm MorrisSwitzer ~ Environments for Health to construct the new facility, composed of operating areas, an interventional radiology room, a surgical day care, post anesthesia care unit and pre-admission testing space. The facility will increase the recovery area and storage space for the surgical department. BOND will also renovate 25,600 s/f of inpatient bed space at the hospital, including nine single rooms with space for overnight visitors and 17 single and semi-private rooms. Not only does the surgical building enhance LGH's quality of care, it also strengthens the institution's strategic relationship with Beth Israel Deaconess and Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center. Established in 2010, these partnerships have increased accessibility to pediatric surgery and other pediatric specialties, as well as critical care and cardiology, among many other specialty services. The new surgical facility will allow LGH to offer many more services locally without transport to Boston, thereby reducing costs and maximizing convenience. "BOND is honored to play a role in Lawrence General Hospital's expansion," said BOND president Robert Murray. "We look forward to building a facility that will provide a leading standard of care for the Merrimack Valley community." BOND is currently providing preconstruction services for the effort, including various options analyses, cost estimating, and Building Information Modeling to ensure the most efficient construction process. Construction has already begun with several enabling projects and will commence in earnest in March with the demolition of a five-story medical office building that currently sits on the proposed site for the surgical building. Lawrence General Hospital expects its new surgical building to be in full operation by 2016.