Presbyterian offers first look at 11-story tower in Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Presbyterian Hospital offered the first look inside their new, 11-story patient care tower Thursday morning.

The tower will add 144 beds, mainly for patients who need more monitoring and assessment but not ICU-level care.

Presbyterian says the tower finished on time and on budget after around three years and a cost of $170 million. They expect to be fully open for patient care in two months as they open floor by floor.

Once completed, the 300,000 sq. ft. space will have 600 rooms, which will help metro hospitals with capacity issues.

Even with the extra space, Presbyterian says they won’t be hiring more staff for the tower. Instead, the expansion will provide patients with their own rooms instead of sharing.

“You can have confidential conversations with your provider, your caregiver, or you can have your family stay the night with you and be there to encourage you,” said Dionne Cruz Miller, Presbyterian Hospital’s chief executive.

The hospital says peaceful healing gardens and tranquil indoor spaces were also included in the tower’s design. It’ll be open to patients, visitors, staff, and clinicians.

“Every detail that you see is on purpose and with the design of creating a healing environment for our staff, our patients and our entire community,” Cruz Miller said.