HEALTH
Published 10:02 pm Sunday, December 28, 2008
* A November groundbreaking signaled the start of construction of a new ADAMS COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT BUILDING at Fourth and Vermont, a project that had been years in the making. The $4.37 million, 26,700-square-foot building will bring all Health Department programs under one roof. Major construction is scheduled to begin in February and the building is expected to be completed by December 2009.
* MEMORIAL HOSPITAL IN CARTHAGE broke ground in May for a $25 million, 18-bed hospital to replace a nearly 60-year-old building. The new facility, located on an 88-acre site one-quarter mile south of the Ill. 336 Carthage interchange, is expected to be ready by summer 2009. The hospital’s board and administration determined it would be more cost-effective to build a new facility than renovate the existing 25-bed hospital.
* A ceremonial groundbreaking in September for a new Alzheimer’s Neighborhood marked the beginning of a four-phase, $20.7 million construction and renovation project at GOOD SAMARITAN HOME in Quincy. The first phase also includes converting the Anna Brown Vista Neighborhood from a shelter care unit to skilled and intermediate nursing care. Other phases will involve tearing down the oldest portion of the building and replacing it with a new entrance and a 32-bed assisted living center; renovation of the shelter care areas; and creation of a separate rehab/Medicare area. The project is expected to take six years to complete.
* HANNIBAL REGIONAL HOSPITAL opened a new $7 million emergency services facility in August. The 27,972-square-foot emergency room is four times as large as the space allocated to patient care in the former facility. New emergency room procedures are more streamlined and equipment and resources more strategically located, which reduces waiting time for patients. The former emergency room is being converted into a 10-bed critical decision unit. HRH also opened the Shinn Lane Medical Building in late January to house cardiology and pain management patient services provided by members of the Hannibal Regional Medical Group.
* BLESSING PHYSICIAN SERVICES broke ground in February for a second medical office building that will connect to its first — the Blessing Health Center at 927 Broadway. Construction of the three-story, 52,150-square-foot facility is expected to cost $8 million and be completed by February 2009.
* QUINCY MEDICAL GROUP had one of its most successful recruitment years, adding 15 providers in 2008, including 11 new physicians, one physician assistant and three certified nurse practitioners. The clinic already has signed 10 new physicians for 2009, which will bring the total number of providers to 122. The new providers practice in a variety of medical specialties, including family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, pulmonology, orthopedics, hematology/oncology, cardiology, sports medicine, pain management, general surgery, plastic/reconstructive surgery, obstetrics/gynecology and ophthalmology.
* HANNIBAL CLINIC officials broke ground in September on a $4.3 million, 22,000-square-foot expansion to accommodate more physicians. The two-level addition will extend west from the original structure and is expected to open in summer 2009. The clinic earlier announced plans to recruit between 10 and 15 new physicians, with the recruitment of primary care physicians the top priority.
* PRAIRIE CARDIOVASCULAR CONSULTANTS LTD, a heart specialty group based in Springfield, opened an office at 910 Broadway in Quincy. Dr. Madhu Dukkipati, an interventional cardiologist who has been practicing in Quincy since August 2003, joined Prairie Cardiovascular on Jan. 1, and the group began actively recruiting additional cardiologists.
