MONROE - The Monroe Clinic unveiled building plans and landscape designs for its $85 million northwest expansion project to the general public Wednesday evening at the Monroe High School Performing Arts Center.
Monroe Clinic President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Sanders, along with members of the Clinic's project team, architect and builder, gave a presentation of the various aspects of the new addition to an audience of about 100 for more than an hour. Topics included the decision to build, financing the project, improving the patient experience, environmental responsibility and "green" construction. The team also answered questions from the audience.
More than 200 physicians, management and front-line staff have spent more than 4,000 hours planning the new facility. Focus groups and neighborhood meetings also added to the planning phase.
The expansion is being financed with $65 million in tax-exempt bonds and $20 million in long-term cash reserves. The new campus facility is not expected to open until the fall of 2011.
The last hospital update was in 1971, when most patients were admitted on in-patient status, Sanders said.
"The majority of admissions now is on an out-patient basis, and we are struggling to do that in a building designed for in-patient visits," he said.
Currently, a patient coming in for a one-day, out-patient surgery will take a trip around the hospital, with 16 stops and four elevators rides traveling 1.5 to 3 miles accompanied by nurses walking, Sanders explained.
The new facility will streamline the process with only six stops, all on the same floor, and patients will be able to leave the hospital through a private exit.
Most hospital patient services will be moved to the northwest addition, and will be connected to the Monroe Clinic's west side.
The expansion will house fewer ICU beds, but more medical-surgical beds than the current hospital, Sanders said.
Patient rooms will be "same-handed," standardized with the same floor plan, to increase efficiency and minimize confusion about location of supplies, equipment and switches for hospital staff during emergencies.
"Mock" patient rooms are being set up near the hospital cafeteria for display and for trial runs to allow nursing staff to work out any details, before the final room design is finalized.
The presentation was an opportunity for the community to learn more about a major addition to the Clinic and to ask questions, Sanders said.
The Monroe Clinic has been meeting regularly with the City of Monroe Plan Commission during the planning stages to verify the project meets with city codes and address the commission's concerns with stormwater run-off and utility installation.
Monroe Clinic President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Sanders, along with members of the Clinic's project team, architect and builder, gave a presentation of the various aspects of the new addition to an audience of about 100 for more than an hour. Topics included the decision to build, financing the project, improving the patient experience, environmental responsibility and "green" construction. The team also answered questions from the audience.
More than 200 physicians, management and front-line staff have spent more than 4,000 hours planning the new facility. Focus groups and neighborhood meetings also added to the planning phase.
The expansion is being financed with $65 million in tax-exempt bonds and $20 million in long-term cash reserves. The new campus facility is not expected to open until the fall of 2011.
The last hospital update was in 1971, when most patients were admitted on in-patient status, Sanders said.
"The majority of admissions now is on an out-patient basis, and we are struggling to do that in a building designed for in-patient visits," he said.
Currently, a patient coming in for a one-day, out-patient surgery will take a trip around the hospital, with 16 stops and four elevators rides traveling 1.5 to 3 miles accompanied by nurses walking, Sanders explained.
The new facility will streamline the process with only six stops, all on the same floor, and patients will be able to leave the hospital through a private exit.
Most hospital patient services will be moved to the northwest addition, and will be connected to the Monroe Clinic's west side.
The expansion will house fewer ICU beds, but more medical-surgical beds than the current hospital, Sanders said.
Patient rooms will be "same-handed," standardized with the same floor plan, to increase efficiency and minimize confusion about location of supplies, equipment and switches for hospital staff during emergencies.
"Mock" patient rooms are being set up near the hospital cafeteria for display and for trial runs to allow nursing staff to work out any details, before the final room design is finalized.
The presentation was an opportunity for the community to learn more about a major addition to the Clinic and to ask questions, Sanders said.
The Monroe Clinic has been meeting regularly with the City of Monroe Plan Commission during the planning stages to verify the project meets with city codes and address the commission's concerns with stormwater run-off and utility installation.