Trinity Health to Host Topping-off Ceremony for Ambulatory Care Center Today

ENFIELD, Conn. — As construction on Johnson Memorial Hospital’s Enfield, Conn. campus for the S. Prestley and Helen Blake Ambulatory Care Center continues, a topping-off ceremony will be held to mark the completion of the project’s main structure with the placement of the top steel beam. The ceremony is set for today, Feb. 2 at 10:30 a.m. at the construction site at 140 Hazard Ave. in Enfield.

A topping-off ceremony is a tradition within the construction industry and is held when the highest structural point in the building construction is attained. To celebrate this event, the last steel girder is signed, lifted into place, and welded to the structure. A small evergreen tree and the American flag are also secured to the girder as it is hoisted to the top of the structure. The tree is meant to represent the strength of the new building and the desire for the construction project to remain injury-free.

The more than $40 million dollar expansion and renovation project is designed to create a comprehensive hub for outpatient services on the hospital’s Enfield campus. Currently, there are four buildings on the site: the Karen Davis Kryznowek Cancer Center, the Johnson Medical Office Building, the Nirenberg Medical Center, and the Johnson Surgery Center, with a total footprint of 66,000 square feet.

The latest project will add 38,000 square feet through the expansion of the cancer center and the replacement of the current surgery center with a building that will house an upgraded surgery center and additional medical office space. Once complete, the Enfield campus will feature four state-of-the-art operating rooms, new and expanded lab services, primary care, 24 exam rooms, and specialty suites.