December 3, 2012
On November 28, Saint Francis Medical Center broke ground on its ambitious expansion and renovation project, “Building on Excellence.” Adding to its strong foundation of innovation and quality, the Medical Center will enhance facilities, services and systems to bring best-in-class healthcare to the people of Missouri and beyond.
This endeavor will bring the community more focused and innovative care from top specialists, more leading-edge treatments and technology, and better choices for surgery, pain management, women and children’s health and more.
Plans for the $127 million, two-phase project, which is slated for completion in 2016, include:
• A five-story patient tower with dedicated areas for orthopedics, neurosciences, rehabilitation, surgical and medical services
• The transition to all private patient rooms to help control infection and promote patient comfort
• Updated patient elevators and “patient-only” corridors
• Renovation of the hospital’s northeast side, including a new Women and Children’s Pavilion
• Expansion of the Pain Management Center and Family BirthPlace
• Private NICU rooms, supporting best practices in neonatology
Designed with key input from Saint Francis physicians, nurses and staff, the plan promotes greater efficiencies and a more comfortable patient experience, and positions Saint Francis to achieve unsurpassed heights in patient care.
“The foundation for excellence is already in place at Saint Francis. Building on Excellence builds upon this foundation and elevates us to unsurpassed heights of patient care, access and satisfaction,” says Steven C. Bjelich, FACHE-D, President and Chief Executive Officer of Saint Francis. “Thanks to the shared insights of our physicians, the board of directors and the Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative architectural firm, our facility and services will expand in time to meet the needs of a growing patient population, as well as exceed their expectations.”
Beginning December 4, Entrances 1 and 9 on the south side of the Medical Center campus will close to accommodate the construction project. Patients and visitors accessing the Health and Wellness Center from Entrance 9 should use Entrance 8 (Fitness Plus, 150 S. Mount Auburn Road) instead. Patients and visitors using Entrance 1 (211 Saint Francis Drive) should use Entrance 2 (Healing Arts Center, 3250 Gordonville Road) instead.
The Health and Wellness Center parking garage will remain open for patients and visitors, but must be accessed from Mount Auburn Road. Construction traffic on Gordonville Road may cause some delays. Construction will not block access to the Emergency and Trauma Center.