 You could see that pride in Dalpoas as well as every one of
the 300-plus who attended the groundbreaking ceremony. The day
marked the beginning of the build of a new state-of-the-art,
116,000-square-foot replacement hospital and a 21,000-square-foot
medical office building.
But the event didn't happen overnight. Dalpoas explained that the
thought process in regard to building a new hospital took a great
deal of time. "We began the planning in 2003," he said. "With the
number of outpatients increasing, it was obvious the hospital built
in 1954 was the wrong design for modern medical services."
For two years the hospital conducted focus groups to discuss
different options, and Dalpoas said they came up with three
potential options. "The most conservative was to do nothing. The
most aggressive was to grow and expand at our current location."
This option presented problems, what with adjoining properties being
privately owned. Another option presented was to build a replacement
hospital that would fulfill the needs of the community.
Dalpoas also explained that the difference in a complete
renovation and expansion of the old hospital compared with building
new didn't carry that much difference in dollars spent. In addition,
the old hospital, no matter how it was renovated, could not fulfill
all of ALMH's goals for exceptional patient care.
The $50-million, two-story building will be constructed on
Business 55, adjacent to the Logan County Fairgrounds. Plans are for
the new hospital to be finished and opened for patients in late 2010
or early 2011. The adjoining office building will be constructed by
Memorial Health System and leased to Springfield Clinic.
"We are extremely excited about offering our community a new and
modern hospital -- one that is designed around a new paradigm of
patient safety, quality and convenience," said Dalpoas, president
and CEO of ALMH. "Constructing a new hospital is much more than just
new bricks and mortar. A new facility will work to ensure that our
charitable mission, which has thrived for over 106 years, will be
extended to benefit future generations -- to our children and our
grandchildren."
Over the course of the last 15 years, the hospital has flexed the
chassis of the current building in an attempt to accommodate the
dramatic growth in outpatients; however, the essential design of the
building is for the 100-plus inpatients cared for daily 55 years
ago. Outpatient services have grown dramatically in this time
period, with nearly 160 outpatient procedures performed daily at
ALMH -- a number that continues to grow.
"Just as we started with the master plan in 2003, the design of
ALMH began with open minds and a blank piece of paper, all the while
aiming to understand and implement a patient- and family-centered
design," said Brian Pansing, lead architect on the project with
Pansing Nolan Matlock Ltd, a full-service architectural design firm
that specializes in health care projects. "I can honestly say that
the patients, families and the community will experience the true
rewards of this approach, all within the context of an innovative
and exciting new facility."
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Patients will continue to receive an advanced level of
patient-centered care that they have come to expect at ALMH.
However, a replacement hospital will help ALMH better deliver care
to patients, making the experience more comfortable and convenient
for the growing number of patients who come through the doors every
day for a wide variety of health care services.
Because the Springfield Clinic physicians occupy a medical office
building within the current hospital, which is as old as the
hospital and has similar design challenges, Memorial Health System
has agreed, in a separate project, to construct a new medical office
building to lease to Springfield Clinic physicians.
The new medical office will be named Springfield Clinic Lincoln,
a transition from Lincoln Health Care Specialists, the original
practice name retained following its merger with Springfield Clinic
in 1995. Six physicians and three mid-level providers, specializing
in family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and
internal medicine, will be the full-time occupants of the new
facility. In addition, physicians and surgeons in nearly 20 other
medical specialty fields will serve patients in the new location as
part of Springfield Clinic's Specialty Outreach program.
"We are so pleased to partner with Memorial Health System on this
latest building project," said Dr. Kenneth Sagins, a Lincoln-based
physician and member of the Springfield Clinic board of directors.
"The new facility will provide better space for our physicians and
greater access for patients, ultimately improving the quality of
care we are able to deliver at Springfield Clinic."
Pansing Nolan Matlock Ltd. is located in Webster Grove, Mo. The
contractor for the project is Harold O'Shea Builders of Springfield.
About 100 workers are expected to be on-site during peak
construction, which is fall 2009 through spring 2010.
[LDN
staff; Amy Denney, communications specialist,
ALMH]
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