St. Francis Medical Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., has updated its hospital expansion plans to include 34,000 more square feet of space than originally planned, according to The Gazette.
The initial project to expand the hospital included a 134,000-square-foot tower on its southwest side. St. Francis Medical Center officials decided to add the additional 34,000 square feet last week. The extra space will accommodate 25 new emergency room beds for a total of 48 beds, eight more than originally planned, according to the report.
Under the new design, the bottom floor of the tower will be a garden-level parking lot. The floor above will contain the ER. Empty "shell space" will be added to accommodate future expansion. The third floor will hold up to nine operating rooms, though just two or three will be ready for use upon completion of the tower's construction. The fourth floor will contain a 46-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and the top floor will house maintenance areas and machines, such as heating and air conditioning units, according to the report.
St. Francis Medical Center plans to break ground in August or September, and expects the project to be completed in 2018. The total projected cost is $100 million, according to the report.