SYLACAUGA — It’s official. A decade long dream of a new hospital is now becoming a reality.Glenn Sisk, president and chief executive officer of Coosa Valley Medical Center, said Thursday the Sylacauga Health Care Authority has obtained financing for the four-story medical facility.
It will be one of only four replacement hospitals built in the state in the past 12 years. It is perhaps the first independently owned replacement hospital to be constructed in Alabama in this time period.
Sisk said all the bonds were successfully sold within less than 3 hours Tuesday to fund what is known as the "West Wing" project. It will be a full replacement facility of 120,000 square feet of space with 86 inpatient rooms.
Zeigler Capitals Market Group of Chicago was the lending investment firm for the bond project, along with Joe Jolly and Associates and Raymond James of Birmingham.
In addition to national investors, local investors had an opportunity to invest in the bond issue, Sisk said. "Several local investors did invest in the hospital," he said.
Sylacauga Health Care Authority met with Zeigler officials more than two months ago and were hired to represent the authority in its efforts to put together a financial package to build a hospital for a public offering of bonds.
WIPFLI, an accounting group, did a feasibility study for the authority on the project. The study indicated the project could be financed and the hospital was financially solid.
Last week, potential investors visited Coosa Valley Medical Center, then Tuesday bonds were sold for the $28 million project.
"This is a historic occasion for this hospital and community," Sisk said.
The new hospital will include 86 inpatient rooms, the majority of which will be private; medical/surgery area; pre and post surgery; an imaging center; food service and cafeteria; loading docks; ambulance entrance; and materials management area.
An added feature of the hospital will be a women’s center, Sisk said. It will be located on the second floor.
The ICU will be expanded from eight rooms to 10.
"This hospital will provide us with the opportunity to meet the expectations of patients in our community with ‘creature comforts.’ The rooms will be bigger, the ceilings 14 and 1/2 feet in height and at least 90 percent of the rooms are private. There are a small number of semi-private rooms. These will be treated as private, except when the hospital has a high census count of patients," Sisk said.
The transitional care unit on the second floor will be renovated in the old portion of the hospital. Ten beds will be added to this unit with 31 private rooms.
No demolition of the old hospital is planned at this time, Sisk said.
The administrative offices of the hospital staff will remain where they are in the old nursing school.
Each floor will have a waiting area with a lot of glass to allow a view that overlooks the hospital campus.
The hospital is relocating the ambulance entrance to the north side as construction begins.
The new hospital is being built on the site where Craddock Clinic once stood.
Groundbreaking is Monday, Sept. 26, at 11 a.m. on the Craddock Clinic site. State, local and county officials are being invited to attend.
Sisk said future plans include construction of another professional building similar to medical plaza.
Also, the hospital is opening Coosa Valley Sleep Disorder Clinic adjacent to ICU on Oct. 10.
Hoar Construction has been hired to build the hospital; Birchfield Penuel Associates is the architectural firm.
The hospital has 580 employees, more than 40 active medical staff members and 60 auxiliary members.
Sylacauga Hospital opened in 1945. It was the only hospital to open in the United States that year.
Sylacauga Health Care Authority reacquired the hospital from Baptist Health System in early August 2004. At that time, authority members said a new hospital was one of the priorities for the community and health care in the area.
The new hospital is scheduled to be completed in spring 2007.
