The expansion of Greenwood Leflore Hospital has moved well ahead of schedule, and it is expected to offer significant improvements for the patients and staff for a long time to come.
The new wing has added 98,000 square feet to the building, and the project also includes the remodeling of 12,000 square feet of existing floor space. Memphis-based Flintco Construction has handled the work.
It has included the addition of a rehabilitation center and 24 semi-private patient rooms. There is more space for endoscopy, cystoscopy, cardiopulmonary care, lab work and other services, and existing areas have been modified to make their look consistent with the new wing.
Also, the new admitting area makes it easier for patients to get in and out, speeding the admissions process.
Bob Barrett, the hospital's executive director, said the expansion has been "an amazingly smooth project for one of this size and this nature."
Good weather has helped the construction proceed faster than originally expected. Some adjustments have been required along the way, but Flintco has been very cooperative, he said.
"I can't say enough good things about Flintco," Barrett said.
Jerry Gardner, the hospital's director of plant operations, said the contract with Flintco lasts until June; then there will be some landscaping as well as the addition of signs designed by Hammons & Associates.
The project, which began in 1999, is the final phase of an $18 million series of expansions, which have included additions to the emergency department, a new outpatient physical therapy facility, a new parking lot and a helipad.
It has required a great deal of work, but it has been well planned, Gardner said. There have been regular meetings for updates on the construction, and a committee planned each step months in advance.
"It's a lot to do, but we've been fortunate to have a good company like Flintco to work with," Gardner said.
Departments have moved into their new work areas gradually, with clinical service receiving first priority and administrators moving last.
The furniture for the administrative offices has been ordered and should be in by summer, Gardner said.
For doctors, the new area has a larger conference room with a kitchen and projection screens, as well as a lounge with a dictation area. The records department also has more space for storage.
The most hectic aspects of the renovation have been the rerouting of foot traffic and the moving of the radiology department to the area that has housed the lab, Gardner said. The lab now has three to four times the amount of space it had before, he said.
"That was probably the most relieved department we had, was the lab," he said, adding that they had been "cramped to death."
Jerry Ruffin, the lab director, said he was "more than happy" to have more space after being in a small area for 25 years.
Down the road, the added space will enable the lab to perform more diagnostic tests in-house, he said. Some of those tests now must be sent to places such as California and Kansas City, so it takes a while to get the results.
Ruffin said the lab also should be able to add some technicians as it begins performing more tests.
The cardiopulmonary department also is at least three times larger in its new location.
Mary "Punkie" Stewart, who has worked as a respiratory therapist at the hospital for 21 years, said it was exciting to have more room. Her department has moved several times, so it's been a while since it had a fixed location, she said.
The new 20-bed Acute Rehabilitation Center, which opened in October, has gotten a good response from its patients so far, said its director, Shelby Lipe.
The rehab center offers physical, occupational and speech therapy to help patients learn to care for themselves once they have been discharged from the hospital.
Before, some who might have benefited from rehab didn't get it because they would have needed to travel to another location such as Jackson or DeSoto County, Lipe said.
Rehab helps cut costs as well. For every dollar spent on rehab, $11 is saved on care, she said.
The program is managed and operated by St. Louis-based RehabCare Group in partnership with the hospital.
Plans for the hospital's new wing also include a $1.5 million in-house magnetic resonance imaging unit scheduled to be added in the coming months.
MRI units can produce detailed pictures of the body using powerful magnets rather than X-rays.
Engineering reports are required before that can move forward, Barrett said.
The placement of the machine also must be handled carefully, because there can't be any metal in the same room.
