If You Go
What: Tours of Monroe Clinic's new $83
million hospital.
When: Sunday, March 18 from noon to 5 p.m.
Where: 515 22nd Ave., Monroe
MONROE - Marking another era of growth and its renewed mission to care for patients and the planet, Monroe Clinic opens the doors of its new hospital March 24.
The facility is designed with a natural healing, prairie-theme atmosphere surrounding medical innovation, green technology and sustainability.
"We are making a 40-year jump," from the last hospital update in the 1970s, said Mike Sanders, President and CEO of Monroe Clinic.
After 28 months in construction and more than five years in the planning stages, the $83 million project promises to give patients at Monroe Clinic Hospital a more convenient, private and restful experience.
The hospital was financed by the clinic's savings and investments and supplemented with $65 million in public financing.
At a time when the national economy was struggling to regain its footing, Sanders said the hospital board chose to proceed with its plans for the facility and snapped up favorable interest rates on 30-year term bonds. Interest costs will represent only four percent of the clinic's $155 million operating costs.
Sanders said he does not expect patient charges to increase. About half of the hospital's service charges are covered by government payer plans, like Medicare and Medicaid, which cannot be charged more. And the hospital is locked in the middle of long-term service costs agreements with private insurance companies.
To cover the interest costs, Sanders sees budget savings coming from labor-saving and energy efficiency measures designed into the new building. The new hospital is sure to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification.
Expenses to maintain the previous hospital facility are also expected to decrease, Sanders said. Heating the 1939 hospital section costs about $1 million per year, he added.
With energy, medical and communication innovations tucked into every corner, the new hospital is a modern medical facility that needs to be seen to appreciate. A community open house from noon to 5 p.m. March 18 offers the public the opportunity to preview the facility with self-guided tours.
"There will never again be an opportunity to walk through the completed hospital before it is filled with the hustle and bustle of patients and caregivers," Sanders said. "My hope is that visitors will see for themselves how this facility demonstrates how sustainability and the very best in modern patient care go hand-in-hand. It's more than a celebration of bricks and mortar. It's a celebration of our mission to create healthy communities through God's healing spirit."
The new hospital is connected to Monroe Clinic on all four levels. Of the 225,000 square feet of space, 14,000 square feet remains unfinished for future expansions. Support services are housed in areas that are largely unseen by visitors.
What visitors and patients will notice is natural light-filled lobby areas and local art on display.
Updated cardiology and imaging services are located on the lower level near the expanded Emergency Department with a helipad and heated ambulance garage.
For outpatient surgeries, the Surgery and Procedure Center is conveniently accessible on the lobby level and provides a private exit for patients.
For longer hospital stays, inpatient rooms are still private, but now in a healing environment equipped with the latest technologies, much of which can be hidden when not in use behind decorative sliding cabinet doors.
Families are as much a part of healing as the medical staff, and Monroe Clinic Hospital was designed to accommodate family members. One example is in the expanded Family Birth and Women's Center, where new moms may also access one of the several mediation gardens, next to the third floor chapel.
While Monroe Clinic is sponsored by the Catholic Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes, the chapel was designed to be inclusive and inviting to members of all faiths and religions. Monsignor Thomas Campion of St. Victor Church in Monroe was involved in designing the chapel before his death in November 2010.
Unique to the hospital is a third-story garden terrace cafe, with indoor and outdoor seating and an executive chef developing new daily menus. The space offers a view of nearly 270 degrees, overlooking barns, silos and farm equipment to the north and the church steeples, roof peaks and shopping centers to the south and west.
The facility is designed with a natural healing, prairie-theme atmosphere surrounding medical innovation, green technology and sustainability.
"We are making a 40-year jump," from the last hospital update in the 1970s, said Mike Sanders, President and CEO of Monroe Clinic.
After 28 months in construction and more than five years in the planning stages, the $83 million project promises to give patients at Monroe Clinic Hospital a more convenient, private and restful experience.
The hospital was financed by the clinic's savings and investments and supplemented with $65 million in public financing.
At a time when the national economy was struggling to regain its footing, Sanders said the hospital board chose to proceed with its plans for the facility and snapped up favorable interest rates on 30-year term bonds. Interest costs will represent only four percent of the clinic's $155 million operating costs.
Sanders said he does not expect patient charges to increase. About half of the hospital's service charges are covered by government payer plans, like Medicare and Medicaid, which cannot be charged more. And the hospital is locked in the middle of long-term service costs agreements with private insurance companies.
To cover the interest costs, Sanders sees budget savings coming from labor-saving and energy efficiency measures designed into the new building. The new hospital is sure to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification.
Expenses to maintain the previous hospital facility are also expected to decrease, Sanders said. Heating the 1939 hospital section costs about $1 million per year, he added.
With energy, medical and communication innovations tucked into every corner, the new hospital is a modern medical facility that needs to be seen to appreciate. A community open house from noon to 5 p.m. March 18 offers the public the opportunity to preview the facility with self-guided tours.
"There will never again be an opportunity to walk through the completed hospital before it is filled with the hustle and bustle of patients and caregivers," Sanders said. "My hope is that visitors will see for themselves how this facility demonstrates how sustainability and the very best in modern patient care go hand-in-hand. It's more than a celebration of bricks and mortar. It's a celebration of our mission to create healthy communities through God's healing spirit."
The new hospital is connected to Monroe Clinic on all four levels. Of the 225,000 square feet of space, 14,000 square feet remains unfinished for future expansions. Support services are housed in areas that are largely unseen by visitors.
What visitors and patients will notice is natural light-filled lobby areas and local art on display.
Updated cardiology and imaging services are located on the lower level near the expanded Emergency Department with a helipad and heated ambulance garage.
For outpatient surgeries, the Surgery and Procedure Center is conveniently accessible on the lobby level and provides a private exit for patients.
For longer hospital stays, inpatient rooms are still private, but now in a healing environment equipped with the latest technologies, much of which can be hidden when not in use behind decorative sliding cabinet doors.
Families are as much a part of healing as the medical staff, and Monroe Clinic Hospital was designed to accommodate family members. One example is in the expanded Family Birth and Women's Center, where new moms may also access one of the several mediation gardens, next to the third floor chapel.
While Monroe Clinic is sponsored by the Catholic Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes, the chapel was designed to be inclusive and inviting to members of all faiths and religions. Monsignor Thomas Campion of St. Victor Church in Monroe was involved in designing the chapel before his death in November 2010.
Unique to the hospital is a third-story garden terrace cafe, with indoor and outdoor seating and an executive chef developing new daily menus. The space offers a view of nearly 270 degrees, overlooking barns, silos and farm equipment to the north and the church steeples, roof peaks and shopping centers to the south and west.