After years of crowding in its emergency department, Paoli Hospital is gearing up for a major expansion that Main Line locals are likely to notice. Main Line Health plans to pour up to $240 million into a new five-story patient tower at the Chester County hospital, a project leaders say is designed to take pressure off the ER and add badly needed inpatient space.
The tower is expected to bring about 108 inpatient beds, new diagnostic areas and a rooftop heliport to speed trauma transfers. System officials are presenting the project as a cornerstone of a broader, long-term effort to boost hospital capacity across the Main Line suburbs.
As reported by the Philadelphia Business Journal, the project carries a proposed price tag between $220 million and $240 million. The five-story building would go up on Paoli Hospital’s existing campus, adjoining the current pavilion.
Data from Main Line Health show Paoli logged 52,949 emergency department visits in fiscal 2025 and is licensed for 261 beds. Executives point to those numbers as a clear sign that more inpatient and critical care space is needed. The same fact sheet notes that a renovated wing has already opened to help absorb surges while the larger expansion makes its way through planning.
Project details and timeline
According to PhillyVoice, the new tower is slated to add 108 beds, including 36 private rooms that can be converted to intensive care use. Plans also call for a dedicated diagnostic floor, two new surface parking lots with space for more than 120 vehicles and new corridors tying the addition into the existing hospital layout.
The outlet reports that a rooftop heliport is in the mix as well, giving the hospital another tool for trauma transfers once the building opens. Main Line Health is targeting 2029 for the new tower to be up and running.
Pressure across the system
Paoli is not the only hospital in the region feeling the squeeze. As nearby facilities have closed or scaled back, patient volumes have shifted across the western suburbs. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Riddle Hospital saw its patient load jump by about 36% after Crozer Health shuttered hospitals last spring, a ripple effect that has driven up demand across the Main Line network.
System leaders have pointed to rising emergency visits and an uptick in same-day surgeries as key reasons for pushing ahead with major capital projects like Paoli’s tower.
Next steps and what to watch
Before shovels hit the ground, Main Line Health still has to secure municipal permits and final design approvals, a process that will help determine the project’s ultimate cost. Planning documents describe the tower as one piece of a multi-year investment strategy, not a one-off fix.
In the meantime, hospital officials say they are leaning on renovated wings and temporary surge spaces to handle peak volumes while the larger expansion inches toward full approval and construction.
