$37M St. Barnabas extension to open in March.

The St. Barnabas Nursing Home in the Bronx, a $35 million, 199-bed facility, will open March 1st and will serve three disparate patient populations - AIDS residents; persons with Tuberculosis, and older adults who require long-term care services.

The seven-story nursing home is on the campus of St. Barnabas Hospital, the 458-bed voluntary, acute care teaching hospital at 183rd Street and Third Avenue that is an affiliate of the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and the New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center.

Dr. Ronald Gade, President of St. Barnabas, said the new building, which occupies a 29,000 square foot site, is connected to the fourth floor of the hospital by an enclosed bridge, thereby allowing for a cost-effective sharing of medical services.

Additional square footage is provided for AIDS resident staff functions visiting and examination rooms, and space for consultation and nursing staff office.

A special unit with state-of-the-art air handling and ultraviolet light systems for the medical treatment of residents with tuberculosis is also part of the complex.

Each floor will have a recreational room equipped with TV and a dining room.

Noting that increasing numbers of elderly are looking to St. Barnabas for medical care, Dr. Gade said that an Adult Day Care Program will be established in the nursing home for area residents who lack a source of comprehensive primary care services.

A major benefit of an ambulatory program offering adult day health care is that it fosters a close physician-patient relationship, one that stresses continuous care.

"Excellence in health care has been the hallmark at St. Barnabas. This new facility will enable the skilled and dedicated staff to respond to an unprecedented challenge - the care of very special patient populations," Dr. Gade said.

The building was designed by Perkins Geddis Eastman Architects and Davis, Brody and Associates.

Dr. Gade said that the second, third and fourth floors, with 100 beds, have been set aside for AIDS and TB residents. The top three floors will be dedicated to long-term geriatric care. Hospitalized patients in need of such care will be transferred to the nursing facility.

Ancillary services such as occupational therapy and physical therapy rooms will be located on the ground floor. Social work and case management services will be provided on each of the nursing units.

The full complement of St. Barnabas' many specialties and sub-specialties, as well as its comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic services will be available to all residents of the nursing home.

Those hospital patients who are transferred to the nursing home may be followed by their physician, medical information and treatment plan, so that there is no interruption in care.

Dr. Gade emphasized that the nursing home was designed to assure maximum personal privacy for all residents, more direct nursing contact and continuity of care.

Among a number of special programmatic and functional features of the nursing home are the following:

* Resident floors are smaller. containing only 33 beds in semi-private and private rooms, while resident rooms are larger.

* The large double rooms can be easily partitioned when a resident requires or desires privacy.