04/01/2025

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital plans new Emergency Department at Ridge in Rochester

This article appeared in Fosters.com   link

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital of Dover is planning to bring a new full-service, 24/7 Emergency Department facility to Rochester as part of phase 2 of The Ridge development.

Darin Roark, president and chief operating officer of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, which is owned by Mass General Brigham, said the company has reached an agreement with Waterstone Properties, developers of The Ridge.

The approximately 16,000-square-foot satellite facility would compete with Frisbie Memorial Hospital of Rochester and its emergency room.

Roark said the new facility will offer everything available at the ED in the Dover hospital, including imaging, CT scans and a full-service lab. He said Rochester was chosen because a substantial segment of Wentworth-Douglass' patients comes from the Rochester area. Wentworth-Douglass already has an a primary care facility in the existing Ridge Marketplace shopping plaza on Route 11.

"Rochester is our number 2 service area," Roark said. "When I first came here [in 2023], we conducted listening sessions and one outcome of that was the observation that our ED is very busy. We looked at our capacity as we try to be as efficient as we can. We noticed Rochester was one of our busiest sources of patients. Twenty percent of our ED volume is represented by Rochester. If you add the area north of there, we up that volume to 30-35%."

He added, "We feel it's really important to bring our services where they are needed and save people in that area the drive to Dover in an emergency, when minutes can count. Last year, over 1,600 ambulances came here from the Rochester area."

What is Ridge phase 2? And how does Emergency Department fit in?

Ridge phase 2, which is in the planning stages, is a major development planned for a 26-acre parcel. It would be located adjacent to Ridge Marketplace, which is home to Market Basket and many stores and restaurants on Route 11.

Josh Levy, principal of Waterstone, has previously said Ridge phase 2 will be a "lifestyle-entertainment center with a variety of food, beverage, retail, medical and entertainment options." This could include restaurants and a movie theater, as well as the Wentworth-Douglass ED.

Roark said free-standing EDs are being built all across the country. He said it is can be a better option than attempting to remodel an existing hospital ED.

"We are always interested in providing the best patient care, for the right patient, in the right place, at the right time," Roark said. "We feel it is a good way to serve the patients we already see from that area."

He said plans call for the facility to create 55-60 new jobs.

When could Ridge phase 2 start construction?

Waterstone still needs to submit all of its plans to Rochester and receive approvals from the city before construction can begin.

Seth Creighton, Rochester's director of planning and development, said Waterstone has submitted some site plans for Ridge phase 2, but the application is incomplete and on hold. He said Waterstone has requested to bring the proposal to the city Planning Board in April.

"They haven’t submitted an actual application, application fees, abutter list, etc.," he said. "They gave us a set of plans. The plans include some design elements that don’t meet zoning ordinances (i.e. – setbacks) and they haven’t applied for zoning relief yet."

Andy Gendron, director of marketing for Waterstone Properties, said the company "continues to work in lockstep with the city of Rochester Planning Board to ensure all project permitting and approvals are in place for the project to move ahead."

Roark said Wentworth-Douglass hopes to begin construction this spring, with a targeted opening of late winter, or early spring 2026.

How is Wentworth-Douglass expanding after recent Mass General Brigham layoffs?

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital was hit with an unreleased number of layoffs as part of Mass General Brigham's job cuts earlier this month. The company cited an anticipated "budget gap" of $250 million at the time, stating more layoffs are coming in March. Hundreds of employees among its 82,000-plus workforce were affected.

Michael Morrison, senior director of external communications for Mass General Brigham hospitals, again stated Tuesday clinical positions were not affected by the recent layoffs and won't be affected in March, either.

"The focus of all those actions are on the management ranks," Morrison said. "We continue to fully support clinical care."

Mass General Brigham leaders have stated investments in health care will continue.