To be built in the Carnes Crossroads area, the new Roper St. Francis Berkeley Hospital will have 50 beds and cost approximately $113 million. The 140,000-square-foot facility will include obstetrics, physical therapy, infusion therapy, radiology and imaging services, a 24-hour emergency department and pharmacy. A medical office building will also be built on the 90-acre campus to better accommodate the way patients access health care.

“Roper St. Francis selected HDR for its high level of design creativity, depth in evidence-based practice, strong engineering background and excellent team,” said Scott Broome, CEO of Roper St. Francis Berkeley Hospital, in a statement. “They are forward-thinking and will be able to guide us in creating a health village.”

HDR is the same firm that helped create South Carolina’s iconic Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, which connects Charleston to Mount Pleasant over Stono River. The firm has completed a number of high-profile health care design projects, including Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Research and Education facility in Florida.

“HDR has extensive experience in doing a green field hospital, or transforming a site with nothing on it and building a welcoming facility that puts patients at the center of design,” Broome said in a statement. “This will be a facility that takes us into the future. We want to be the community’s preferred partner for innovative, patient-centered health care for years to come.”

The hospital, which will be located near the Del Webb retirement community, will be more convenient for nearby residents who currently travel half an hour to the nearest medical facility. Broome compared the health village concept to a college campus with multiple buildings.

J.R. Van Vechten, a senior whose wife is recovering from surgery at the closest hospital, spoke on the challenges of being located so far from medical care. “If I would have driven her to the hospital, she might not have made it,” he said at a town hall meeting.

Plans for the hospital have been in the works for more than seven years, but were delayed due to a lawsuit with Trident Hospital. The design process will take about a year to complete, with a 24-month construction period to follow. The first part of the design focuses on the placement of the buildings in relation to the roads. The second part will incorporate Roper St. Francis teammates in the design of the interior spaces. Completion is estimated for early 2019.

The facility can’t come fast enough for the residents of Berkley County, where the population is nearing 200,000 and is steadily rising every year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The project is expected to create more than 200 jobs in the area.
 

The post Roper St. Francis Partners with HDR on New Hospital Design appeared first on HCO News.

One of the busiest surgical hospitals in S.C., Lexington Medical Center performed more then 19,000 surgeries last year. Eight more operating rooms will be included, bringing the total to 31 operating rooms. An expanded surgical recovery area of 11,332 square feet will also be included to accommodate medical, critical care and surgical patients.

The Labor and Delivery and Mother/Baby departments — units that welcome more than 3,700 babies each year — will also be expanded. In the Special Care nursery, babies will have private rooms in order to provide more bonding opportunities for mothers and babies. Research has shown this leads to lower infection rates and more positive outcomes for the baby’s growth.

“The hospital is woven into the fabric of Lexington County and the Midlands. This clinical expansion will allow us to take care of our community for many years to come,” said Tod Augsburger, president & CEO of Lexington Medical Center, in a statement.

The pharmacy department, which services all inpatient needs and 60 physician practices and urgent care centers in the area, will be relocating from the oldest part of the hospital to the new patient tower in order to afford staff more space to work.

A central energy plant to support service needs of the tower is in the works, as is a new parking deck to add 950-plus parking spaces to the hospital’s campus. Terrace Café will also be expanded, providing more dining options to staff, patients and visitors alike.

Another project, Lexington Medical Park 3, planned at 175,466 square feet, is already under construction for future physician offices and practices.

The $400 million project is expected to be complete in 2019.
 

The post Lexington Medical Center Builds New Patient Care Tower appeared first on HCO News.