St. Francis Hospital Breaks Ground on Expansion Projects

St. Francis Hospital hosted the groundbreaking of the hospital’s $110-million renovation and construction projects on Tuesday, October 25. Construction of two new four-story towers will add more than 375,000 square feet to the hospital’s main campus.

The tower adjacent to the current facility will house a dedicated cardiovascular surgical unit with four catheterization labs, a special procedures room, a nuclear medicine suite and 30 prep and recovery bays. It will offer spacious new private rooms, expanding the number of private rooms to 248. An ENT Center of Excellence will also be located in the building.

The second tower will house the Cardiac and Women’s Centers of Excellence and include a new 324-seat auditorium, named in honor of Sara Ruth Carroll, a long-time member of the hospital’s auxiliary.

Renovation of the main hospital will result in expanded emergency services, including 20 new patient treatment rooms and an expanded surgical suite with five new operating rooms.

“These expansion and renovation projects are in direct response to our community’s growing needs and our physicians’ desire to provide our community with the safest, best possible care,” says Martha Bickerstaff, chair of St. Francis Hospital’s Board of Trustees.

Hospital admissions at St. Francis have risen 27 percent since 2004. Additionally, surgical procedures have more than doubled and emergency room visits have increased 25 percent.

Chris Woodruff spoke and was one of those involved in the groundbreaking. Woodruff’s great grandfather, James W. Woodruff Sr., who donated 20 acres of land from his dairy farm for St. Francis’ original construction, helped break ground at the hospital’s original groundbreaking on October 23, 1948.”St. Francis has had a remarkable impact on our community’s healthcare since opening in 1950. My family is very pleased to have had a role in its history. If my great grandfather were here today, he would be pleased to know St. Francis is continuing to strive for excellence and a better quality of health care for our region,” says Woodruff.

Skanska USA will complete the hospital’s new construction and renovation by August 2013.

“At Skanska, we partner with our clients to build quality healthcare facilities that meet the needs of the community,” said Skanska Executive Vice President and General Manager John Reyhan. “We look forward to utilizing our health care expertise on this important project to provide state-of-the-art equipment, new facilities and new services for the Columbus community.”

“Columbus and the surrounding area deserve the very best healthcare that we can possibly achieve. This project represents a huge leap forward in our area’s quality of health care,” says Steve Butler, St. Francis Hospital Board of Trustees planning committee.