Danvers-based construction firm William A. Berry & Son Inc. and officials from Heywood Hospital in Gardner recently broke ground on a 72,000-square-foot addition to the hospital campus.

The new building will house a new emergency center and two floors for inpatient care. The hospital’s ICU and favor III medical, surgical and telemetry services will be relocated to the second floor of the new facility. The third floor will eventually house the favor II medical surgical unit. The new facility will be named the Watkins Acute Care and Emergency Center, after major donor Edward G. "Chris" Watkins and family, who pledged $5 million to the project.

In 2008, the hospital had 215,500 outpatient visits and 22,000 emergency room treatments. The hospital was recently recognized for clinical excellence in cardiac care.