Shriners Hospital for Children, based in Tampa, Fla., has scrapped its plan to build a $145 million seven-story hospital in St. Louis and opted to build an outpatient surgery center there instead, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report.
The outpatient surgery center would house two outpatient surgical suites and is expected to open in 2015. Shriners officials decided to scale back its building plans in light of the local need for inpatient services. According to the report, an already existing Shriners Hospital in nearby Frontenac has only one or two patients on some weekends.
The low demand for inpatient services means Shriners will also close its Frontenac facility once construction of the outpatient surgery center is complete. After the surgery center opens, Shriners plans to put the facility up for sale, according to the report.
Shriners and St. Louis Children's Hospital have already reached a preliminary agreement, under which St. Louis Children's facility will be used for inpatient and overnight services.
The outpatient surgery center would house two outpatient surgical suites and is expected to open in 2015. Shriners officials decided to scale back its building plans in light of the local need for inpatient services. According to the report, an already existing Shriners Hospital in nearby Frontenac has only one or two patients on some weekends.
The low demand for inpatient services means Shriners will also close its Frontenac facility once construction of the outpatient surgery center is complete. After the surgery center opens, Shriners plans to put the facility up for sale, according to the report.
Shriners and St. Louis Children's Hospital have already reached a preliminary agreement, under which St. Louis Children's facility will be used for inpatient and overnight services.
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