Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., aims to add 100 beds and 950 full-time employees over the next two decades after seeing increased demand for inpatient care, according to the Pioneer Press.
The 450-bed hospital submitted a proposal to state regulators in November to increase its capacity and will present its plan in the coming months. The hospital must receive approval from the Minnesota Legislature.
Although the hospital made efforts to treat more patients through outpatient services, Regions has seen more demand for inpatient care across several specialties, according to the hospital's report to the Minnesota Department of Health, which will review the proposal.
Regions estimates all the beds it is currently allowed will be in use by March 2018 due to the service area's changing demographics. "As our community grows and gets older, demand for our services will increase," Megan Remark, CEO of Regions Hospital, told the Pioneer Press.
The hospital currently employs approximately 4,100 people and is owned by Bloomington, Minn.-based HealthPartners. The proposal aims to add 60 medical/surgical and critical care beds, 20 mental health beds and 20 obstetric beds by 2040.
To staff the new beds, the majority of the 950 new full-time employees would be nurses, nursing assistants, housekeeping staff and nutrition specialists, said Heidi Conrad, CFO of Regions Hospital.
The Minnesota Health Department will begin a 90-day review of the hospital's proposal and submit a recommendation to the Legislature, which could take up the proposal in its 2018 session.