HOLMDEL - At Bayshore Medical Center, it is time for a new emergency room.

The result: the Dr. Robert H. Harris Emergency Care Center, a $48 million, 32,000- square-foot facility set for completion by summer 2021.

"There is no doubt in my mind that this new emergency care center, the Robert H. Harris Emergency Care Center, will be a game changer for Bayshore Medical," said Robert C. Garrett, chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health.

Hackensack Meridian owns multiple hospitals, including Bayshore, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Ocean Medical Center in Brick and Southern Regional Medical Center in Stafford.

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"It will be a game changer for Hackensack Meridian Health, but more importantly, it will be a game changer to the thousands of lives that will be saved as a result of it," Garrett said.

On Thursday, hospital executives, staff and community supporters celebrated the start of construction.

The need for a new emergency care center, double the size of the current emergency room, is a consequence of the hospital's growth.

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Built to serve 12,000 patients a year, it now treats 32,000 patients a year, said Frank Citara, Bayshore Medical Center's chief hospital executive. The new emergency care center, located on the Garden State Parkway side of the hospital's campus, will be able to treat 55,000 patients a year, he said.

"As we have grown, the capabilities of the facility have been stretched and the time to expand has come," Citara said. "Clearly, there is a need to triple the size of the emergency room, we are seeing patients in hallway beds right now, which isn't all that great."

The new emergency care center, Citara said, will "usher in a new era for our hospital and provide a platform for our continued growth."

The new emergency care center will include:

Thirty-five private patient bays.

Space for behavioral health patients.

A larger ambulance arrival area that can accommodate six ambulances at once.

A dedicated area for pediatric patients.

New imaging technology and equipment, including CAT scan.

The ability to add three additional floors, which will connect to the campus' west tower, to accommodate future growth.

After the new emergency care center is completed, the hospital will begin renovations for a new main entrance on the east side of the hospital campus, which is closest to outpatient services, including a new medical center lobby along with a new reception area.

The emergency care center is named in honor of the late Dr. Robert H. Harris, following a pledge by the Middletown-based Golden Dome Foundation, which was founded by Harris and his wife Mary Ellen Harris, the organization's current president.

The pledge is the largest in Bayshore Medical Center's history. "My husband, Bob, for whom this building is named, had a love for medicine and great respect for the work of the care team at Bayshore Medical Center," Mary Ellen Harris said in a statement last month announcing the donation.

"As a pioneer in innovative research, he was always trying to improve the quality of life for the people his work impacted, and I know he’d be proud to help improve the working environment for clinicians, while enhancing care for patients,” she said.

Holmdel Mayor Eric Hinds said he has watched Bayshore's "positive transformation."

"They have transformed into a premier health institution and to have an emergency room like we are going to have, cutting edge, is a game changer," Hinds said.

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