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  • Athens Administrator Pat Wallace (left) shakes hands with Senator Robert Nichols, as ETMC CEO/President Elmer G. Ellis looks on. Robby Robertson/Athens Review

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March 10, 2010

ETMC Athens breaks new ground

$32.4 million expansion big addition to hospital, community

Robby Robertson The Athens Review

ATHENS — Almost 25 years after it first opened south of town, ETMC Athens is going to expand.

A $32.4 million expansion was announced Tuesday afternoon in a groundbreaking ceremony in front of the Emergency Room at the Athens site.

“Today, I am so pleased to formally announce that construction is now underway on a $32.4 million expansion project that will increase the ETMC Athens footprint by approximately 50 percent,” ETMC Athens Administrator Pat Wallace told the crowd of about 200.

 “I am also very pleased to announce that once the construction is complete, we anticipate adding approximately 100 full-time and part-time employees to the ETMC Athens payroll to accommodate patients’ needs.”

The 2-year project will take place in a series of phases as the southwest corner of the hospital is expanded with a 55,600-square-foot wraparound. Twelve thousand square feet of existing space will be remodeled. Among the occupants of the new space will be the emergency department.

The new-and-improved ER will boast 22 spacious exam rooms (up from the current 14), two state-of-the-art trauma rooms and a spacious, private waiting area.

Outside the new emergency room, a multi-lane canopy will provide shelter for two ambulances and from six to eight cars at a time. There will also be additional parking to support the ER.

“It’s always been our belief that instead of bringing people to the center, the way most people do, we believe you need to build the facilities where people are living,” Elmer G. Ellis, president/CEO of the East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System, said.

Ellis, who played a large role in the construction of the current facility, said he remembers the groundbreaking and open house in 1986.

“Cars were lined up and down Highway 19 as far as you could see.” Ellis said. “That was a big day for Athens, and this is too. So we put a lot of money into making those facilities current, modern and attractive.

“When we can do that, it makes finding physicians and their families much easier, because it is a place they want to live and work. Everybody wants to see a successful development of health care, and I think here in Athens, we have done that.”

While construction is under way, visitors entering the building at the second floor (where departments such as the ER, ICU and OB are located) will gain access via a covered walkway.

Occupying the very corner of the new space will be the intensive care unit, which will have two more patient beds than its current eight.

The third department to occupy the new space will be surgery, where there will be a new prep-and-hold area, five operating rooms (up from the current three), a recovery area and day-surgery space.

“The ER, OB and surgery represent our most pressing needs, and this expansion project addresses those needs quite well,” said Steve Lowe, director of engineering and safety at ETMC Athens. “All the challenges during construction will be well worth it.”

Once the ICU is relocated into the new space, the OB department will expand its footprint to include the area currently being occupied by the ICU. Among the gains for the OB department will be eight additional “labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum” rooms.

The department currently has one LDRP room, which provides a spacious environment where expectant moms can, in most cases, stay throughout their hospital stay. All the existing postpartum rooms will be refurbished.

The radiology department will also expand, thanks to space made available by the adjustment of departments.

Parking spaces are now being added to the back of the ETMC Athens complex, in order to partially compensate for parking areas that will be claimed by construction needs. Visitor parking at the front of the hospital will also be expanded and access improved.

“We’ve assembled a top-notch team from the designers to the construction team,” said Robert Layton, corporate director of plant services for the ETMC Regional Healthcare System. “Most of these team members have worked with us on other system projects.”

The architect for the project is Hammel, Green & Abrahamson, based in  Minneapolis, Minn. The builder is Vaughn Construction Company, LLC, operating out of their Bryan/College Station office. Nori Umemoto of Nori Umemoto Design Associates in San Jose, Calif., serves as interior planner and designer. 

At the peak of construction, from 100 to 130 construction workers will be on site, many of whom will be area residents.

We have had this expansion ready for 10 years,” Wallace said. “This was just the right time for us to get started on it.

“I am so excited with how this is going to bring more jobs to Athens, better health care and a state-of-the-art equipment with room to use all of it.”

ETMC Marketing Associate Toni Clay contributed to this story.

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