By TOPPER NORRIS

Vital Stats: 500. Number of medical professionals employed at new Montefiore Hutchinson Campus. (Source: Montefiore Medical Center)

Montefiore Medical Center opened its new Hutchinson Campus today—a 12-story, state-of-the-art medical facility with 12 operating rooms, four procedure rooms, and an advanced medical imaging center. But you won’t find any overnight beds.

“Our new ‘hospital without beds’ has a larger capacity than many traditional hospitals,” said Dr. Steven M. Safyer, president and CEO of Montefiore Health System, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 10. The Hutchinson Campus, found at the enormous Hutchinson Metro Center in Pelham Bay, will offer medical procedures on an ambulatory basis—meaning treatment without the need for hospitalization. It’ll also provide space for multi-specialty care, with multidisciplinary medical teams collaborating closely together.

For example, one floor of the new medical center will house a heart and vascular care program with facilities for cardiology, imaging, vascular surgery, and cardiac surgery. Another location within the Hutchinson Campus will accommodate a department for ear, nose and throat specialists, which will offer audiology exam rooms, vestibular labs, and a voice lab.

“Our goal is wellness,” Safyer said. “Sometimes [hospitals] are not good places to be. Quite frankly, they’re the best place to be if you need to be there, but you don’t want to be there a minute more than you have to.”

The bed-less strategy works to further the course of recovery, according to Safyer. He mentioned the risk of contracting infections as one downside to traditional, in-patient care. To improve patient safety, Safyer continued, “We have to transform the [medical] facilities, transform the model, and transform the care. We are doing that as a medical organization.”

Apart from the surgical facilities and imaging center, the Hutchinson Campus will feature primary and specialty care practices, laboratory services, and a pharmacy.

A free shuttle will connect patients and staff with nearby subway lines, and a 1,100-capacity parking space will be offered. The Hutchinson Campus will employ over 500 people, including 177 doctors and 77 nurses.