Emory is focusing on patient convenience and safety in its plans to build a 210-bed Emory University Hospital tower, an internal email says.

The project also includes a new emergency room and new operating rooms, said the Friday email from John Fox, president and CEO of Emory Healthcare, to Emory staff and physicians.

Earlier this week, Georgia Health News reported that Emory University’s Board of Trustees had approved the site for the new tower.

The expansions and improvements are made possible by funding from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, Fox said in his email. The foundation ‘’provided more than $210 million to Emory to help construct a model patient-centered health care system for the 21st century, as well as to support other strategic priorities of the University.’’

The new tower will be located on Clifton Road in front of Emory Clinic Building B, and across the street from the current Emory University Hospital facility.

“This is an important step in providing better access to our patients in a patient- and family-centered environment,’’ Fox said in the email to Emory staff and physicians. “These new facilities will create opportunities for improved access, patient safety and enhanced efficiency, which benefit patients, families and the skilled members of our patient care team.’’

Emory had previously announced plans to modernize its aging facilities, but the recession put that work on hold.

Details about the project’s cost, its completion date and the number of jobs it will create are not yet available,  an Emory spokesman said.