Work starts for new facility
By Stacey Hart/ Staff Writer
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Emerson breaks ground on new satellite location
With construction equipment sitting nearby and the foundation complete, Emerson Hospital officials and Sudbury residents celebrated the ceremonial groundbreaking of a new medical facility on Rte. 20.
"There will be a variety of wonderful physicians, primary care doctors, specialists, rehab therapy, a lab, occupational therapy, speech therapy. They will all be housed here in one building with easy access in and out," said Christine Schuster, who becomes the president and CEO of the facility on July 5. The two-story 17,000 square-foot building in Chiswick Park will be called Emerson Medical and act as a satellite of Emerson Hospital in Concord. Emerson already has two other satellite locations in Westford and Groton. Although those are great facilities, the Sudbury one will be even better because it will provide healthcare up and down Rte. 20, Schuster said.
As hospital officials and residents gathered under a tent, determined not to let the threat of rain postpone the ceremony, Schuster and others shouted "Let's dig" and dug into the ground. A drawing of the medical facility was displayed, along with examples of what the interior lobby will look like.
"We're very pleased to be in Sudbury. We have practices already in Sudbury and we hope to continue to grow," said Greg Martin, the interim president and CEO. He thanked the town for all their support in creating Emerson Medical on Rte. 20. Selectmen Chairman Larry O'Brien said the new facility will be everything anyone could ask for. "It's a quality of life issue. It's going to provide an assortment of health care services that you won't have to leave town for," he said. "It certainly is affiliated with a quality hospital in the area and it will allow for residents to have one-stop medical care, rather than going to different offices."
For Schuster, a Sudbury resident, the creation of Emerson Medical is the culmination of everything she has wanted in healthcare. It gives her the chance to be a CEO in her own community and for a community that needs healthcare. "I can't even tell you how excited I am to be here," she said. "It was a very easy decision to become president and CEO of Emerson. Emerson stands for high quality healthcare and it's high quality healthcare in your own backyard. You don't have to travel into Boston." Now that healthcare is only minutes away and easily accessible off of Rte. 20 and Union Avenue. As Schuster invited people for a tour of the new medical facility in early 2006, she also explained why this was being established in Sudbury. "The people from Emerson came and talked to 400 people in Sudbury and Wayland, and asked them what they wanted," she said. "What did they want? This."