Conway Regional Health System recently announced the largest expansion project in the hospital’s history as well as a special gift to local schools.
The Conway Regional Board of Directors plans to expand the Women’s Center and construct a new surgery department. The $25 million project, a final phase of an overall master facility plan, will also include enlarging the medical center’s power plant to provide additional energy for the new 58,000-square-foot hospital addition. Conway Regional Health System recently announced the largest expansion project in the hospital’s history as well as a special gift to local schools.
The Conway Regional Board of Directors plans to expand the Women’s Center and construct a new surgery department. The $25 million project, a final phase of an overall master facility plan, will also include enlarging the medical center’s power plant to provide additional energy for the new 58,000-square-foot hospital addition.
It is the largest expansion project in Conway Regional history in terms of the monetary investment. Construction will begin soon with projected completion in December 2009.
“This project will address two areas of great importance to our community and our physicians – additional space for obstetrics and expanded surgical suites,” said Jim Lambert, interim president/CEO and chief operating officer. “Surgery has changed dramatically in the last 25 years since our current operating room was built. Today we use more technology and equipment so we need to build a larger space that will hopefully carry us through another 25 years of providing excellent healthcare to this community. The obstetrics component of this new project allows us to accommodate the growth in community demand and provide additional capacity for the services currently provided.”
The board approved conceptual plans for the project over a year ago and has been working with hospital administration and Cromwell Architects & Engineers to develop a preliminary layout and to define the full scope of the project.
“This is an exciting time for Conway Regional,” said Dr. Margaret Beasley, chair of the Conway Regional board. “When we began working on this project we knew that we would have to phase in this expansion. There were several dominoes that had to fall first as we relocated departments, cleared the space, planned for parking and prepared the location for this new construction.
“This innovative two-story structure will enable us to expand quickly to fully address the community’s health care needs for surgical and obstetrics services for decades to come.”
Initial plans call for construction of a two-story addition with the capacity to expand to a height of six stories. The addition would extend northwestward from the core of the medical center taking in a current parking area and connecting to the Women’s Center.
Donation of AEDs
On March 6, the Conway Regional Health Foundation announced the donation of 17 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for all public and private schools in Conway as well as the city’s two sports centers. An AED is a device that analyzes the heart’s rhythm for any abnormalities and, if necessary, directs the rescuer to deliver an electrical shock to the victim.
“If an AED saves the life of one person this investment will be worthwhile,” said Charles Nabholz, chair of the Health Foundation Board of Directors. “This gift is a great way for the Foundation to fulfill its mission of helping Conway Regional improve the health and well being of our community.”
The gift is believed to be the largest donation of AEDs in Arkansas this year and possibly in Arkansas history. In the first phase of the program, the Health Foundation will pay for the 17 AEDs, which are valued at more than $25,000, using proceeds from the 2007 Conway Regional Golf Classic.
Proceeds from this year’s golf classic will purchase AEDs for any remaining schools in Faulkner County that need them including Mayflower and Mount Vernon-Enola. (Private individuals or organizations have already purchased AEDs for Conway Christian School, Greenbrier and Vilonia schools.)
“Statistics from the American Heart Association, the Red Cross and other health organizations indicate that having AEDs in public areas can make a difference in saving lives and it is our hope that this gift will make a difference in Conway,” said Lambert. “While we believe that providing these AEDs in our schools and city sports centers is the right thing to do, we hope they never have to be used.”