Hospital projects gear up

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Doctors Hospital is about to lose part of its parking lot, and patients and visitors will have to find a new front door. But when a $55 million renovation gets under way in the next few weeks, officials are hoping it will actually be easier to get in and out.

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Doctors Hospital  Special
Special
Doctors Hospital

The project is the latest in a spate of citywide hospital construction that could total nearly $300 million.

The Doctors renovation, which will add a 24-bed intensive care unit and 24 private rooms, and remake the lobby and entrance, is awaiting a permit from the city of Augusta to begin, said Chief Operating Officer Ken Wicker. Doctors hopes to have it by the first week in March, he said.

Construction and equipment will take over a parking lot and close the front entrance, which will require visitors to use a new entrance on the west side near the ER, Mr. Wicker said.

"We know we're going to be a little down with the construction project but we're hopefully going to make it even easier for the folks when they come," he said.

The hospital will increase its valet service from two people to six and add shuttle service to the other parking, Mr. Wicker said.

"We're really going to make a push, especially the elderly, to use the valet service," he said.

The $55 million project is expected to last about 20 months.

Medical College of Georgia Hospital and Clinics is preparing to change the Augusta landscape as well with a $31 million cancer outpatient treatment center to bookend its Cancer Research Center. The cancer outpatient center will be one of the first projects coming from a $135 million bond project approved this year by the board of MCG Health Inc.

Some design work has begun on the center, which will include a clinical research unit to allow patients access to experimental therapies and will consolidate adult cancer services, said Rich Bias, senior vice president for ambulatory and network services.

"The focus here was really taking the opportunity to bring everything together under one roof so the patient comes to one location," he said.

Demolition for the project is expected to start in early July, said Rick Tobias, vice president of facilities services.

A $94 million renovation at University Hospital is expected to conclude next year.

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

DOCTORS HOSPITAL

Includes: 90,000-square-foot front tower housing a 24-bed intensive care unit; powerhouse relocation; additional operating room; renovations for the Joseph M. Still Burn Center

Investment: $55 million

Scheduled completion: Mid-2010

MCG HEALTH

Includes: 59,000-square-foot outpatient cancer center; renovations to women's health, neurology, cardiovascular, waiting rooms; equipment additions and upgrades

Investment: $135 million

Scheduled completion: Late 2009

UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Includes: 199,000-square-foot cardiovascular center for all heart services; outpatient center; renovation and expansion of operating rooms

Investment: $94 million

Scheduled completion: Early 2009

Comments

wildman

They made my stay good until someone stole my favorite baseball cap while I was preparing to go home.

LaTwon

so they are going from a small stink hole to a larger stink hole.
they should try taking care of their infrastructure that exists
and their patients for a change. if u for some reason from hell have to go there take a family member to take care of you and a roll of duct tape to hold your room together. and perhaps a clothes pin for your nose................... then have all of your bills audited.

L. DeGutes

I read the comments about Doctors, I totally disagree with the remarks. I worked, and was a patient there many times. The care is good. The staff tries the best they can, and are knowledgeable. I can remember when we first opened. A patient stuck her head out the door at midnight, and asked, "Do you all have room service here at night." I stated, yes, and here it is. The expectations of a hospital anywhere are summed up in her statement. Get real! As far as the parking lot goes, we always believed one day we would be parking on Wheeler Road, the parking lot and the hospital has expanded many times, over the years. It's called progress. The Doctors, Nurses, and staff that are good need to keep on doing good work. The ones who don't do good work, well, go to another occupation not another hospital. Thank you Doctors, I learned alot over the years there. Most of the orginal people are gone, things have changed, some good, some bad. The people make the place not parking lots.

iletuknow

Doctors Hospital......get outta here!!
Crooks disguised as doctors.

Rose

iletuknow, my dr is no crook. He is one of the best.I don't know where you got your info from.

lisagirl1979

I agree. I worked there for two years and still would be if we hadn't had to relocate. You people that are against the hospital, news flash--THERE ARE ALOT WORSE HOSPITALS OUT THERE. And those "crooks" might someday save your life. Some people cannot be saved because they have waited too long to seek treatment or they may be beyond saving beacuse it is just their time to go. As for the "tape holding the room together-you probably caught the room before maintenance got a chance to fix it. They do have some things that are priority over a piece of wallpaper being torn or a piece of molding that needs to be fixed. And as for a smell, you try being so sick that you can't get up to use the bathroom and have no choice but to have an accident on yourself. The aides work hard to ensure that the patients are cleaned as needed. I'm sure you've made a stink a time or two in your life.

L. DeGutes

Thank you lisa.boyle79 & Rose for your comments. My Doctors were not crooks either, but I can remember a few patients that were crooks over the years, that were there as patients. I will agree with you lisa, there are a lot worse hospitals out there. I've seen them, but the one thing that always shines through, there are good people there, working to keep some one alive. Two things I've noticed, when people are injured or ill, and they want to live, they don't say anything to use except, please don't let me die. They don't complain about the wallpaper or duct tape. I never remember seeing any there. The smell might not be perfume, but not just aids, but nurses pitch in to help keep the patients clean and dry. I can't say enough about the people, I encounter in nursing or medicine. What a strange bunch we are. What did Winston Churchhill say, "Never have so few, given so much, for so many."

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