By HFT Staff

Geisinger officials announced major plans to make better health more accessible for the central Susquehanna Valley and beyond with a proposed $880 million expansion of Geisinger Medical Center. 

The proposed project will feature a new 11-story tower that will be constructed at the front of the hospital, near an expanded main entrance area. This expansion will dramatically alter and improve the Geisinger Medical Center campus through modern spaces and tools to meet the region’s current and future healthcare needs, focusing particularly on patient experience and high-level care. 

The new tower will feature a larger emergency room to serve more patients and provide a more efficient flow of care. The new ER will double the square footage of the current space and increase it from 45 beds to 60 beds. Updated and expanded intensive care units and operating suites will surround the ER to allow collaboration between teams as they care for the sickest and most severely injured patients. 

The hospital will transition to a 100 percent private-room facility for a more comforting and modern healing environment, so each patient will have their own room to recover and be with their loved ones. It also allows more space for teams to work collaboratively on a patient’s care plan. 

Beyond the clinical expansion, the project improves campus convenience with a proposed multi-level parking garage near the front of the hospital. The garage will connect to the hospital with an enclosed sky bridge, offering patients and visitors an easy way to reach the facility and its emergency services. The parking garage also will better connect the hospital with the Pine Barn Inn, which will continue operations adjacent to the hospital.  

This expansion marks the latest investment in the region’s health needs. The system recently started construction on Geisinger Behavioral Health Center Danville, a 96-bed inpatient facility in Mahoning Township that’s expected to open in 2025.  

Danville’s project is happening in parallel with a similar expansion at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center near Wilkes-Barre. These investments underscore Geisinger’s commitment to creating a better patient experience for northeastern and central Pennsylvanians. 

Geisinger Medical Center campus development work is already underway, with a roadway project in front of the hospital that will improve traffic flow. The Danville expansion project is expected to begin in 2025, starting with the planned demolition of Dickey Clinic to make room for the tower. Tower construction will occur in phases with the new tower slated to open in 2028. The last expansion on the campus occurred in 2010 with the opening of the Hospital for Advanced Medicine tower.