SYLACAUGA — After providing services from the same building for 60 years, Coosa Valley Medical Center is scheduled to begin construction on a new hospital by the end of this year. Glen Sisk, president and chief executive officer at the medical center, said the new building will allow the center to improve and expand upon its existing services.
"Certainly, we think that the general conditions of our facility will be dramatically improved," he said. "We think this will open the door to expand our services and allow people to stay closer to home (for health care services)."
Sisk added that the updated facility will also allow the center to recruit more and more highly qualified doctors.
The existing building, which opened in 1945, has smaller rooms and lacks some of the technology that has been developed since that time. The new building will, officials hope, alleviate those problems.
"We’re working hard to meet the emerging technology and to accommodate our patients’ needs," Sisk said.
Among the things to be included in construction are an updated kitchen and cafeteria, new imaging equipment for the radiology department and more spacious inpatient rooms. Room will also be available for nursing home patients.
Sisk said he wants patients to have a positive experience at Coosa Valley Medical Center.
"We do believe that people want to stay close to home for their healthcare services, and our goal is to create and develop new services that allow them to do that," Sisk said.
Some of those new services could include a sleep disorder department and an expanded cardiovascular department.
The $25 million building will be physically connected to the ambulatory section of the existing building, which for the time being will remain intact. Later, though, the center hopes to begin a gradual demolition plan, allowing for possible expansion to the new facility.
To finance this project, the center and the Sylacauga Healthcare Authority will be selling bonds. Zeigler Healthcare Finance of Chicago and Morgan Keegan and Company will be advising officials during this process.
"Our hope is that we can complete the bond issue towards fall and construction would begin shortly afterward," Sisk said.
He said that it would likely take 15 to 16 months for the construction to be completed and the hospital to become operational.
Until that time, the hospital will continue to provide all its current services.
