[Panther Thunder]

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PIKEVILLE — Several months ago, Pikeville Medical Center embraced its new theme: “We’ve only just begun.” Local residents will see the meaning behind that statement when construction begins soon on the hospital’s new 11-story, 218,233 square-foot medical office building and parking garage.
The public is invited to kick off the $100 million expansion during a groundbreaking ceremony at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 26 in the front parking lot of the hospital.
Hospital administrators will join local, state and federal officials for the event.
In addition to providing approximately 1,500 construction jobs and 100 long-term jobs, the project will improve health care for the entire region, officials say.
“When you look at how PMC has increased its services that allow people to not have to travel out of the area to receive quality care, this is what we have to do in order to continue to meet the needs of the community,” said Terence Farrell, Vice President of Professional and Support Services. “People who have worked here a while said it took 30 years to outgrow the Elliott Building, but it took less than 10 years for the community to outgrow the May Tower.”
The hospital is currently accepting contractor bids for the project, which is expected to begin in January. The building is being designed by Louisville-based Stengel-Hill Architecture and CMTA Consulting Engineering.
The parking garage is expected to be completed in 2012 and the entire project, consisting of additional hospital improvements, is expected to be completed by 2013.
The medical office building and parking garage will be constructed in the hospital’s parking lot and connect to the hospital via a pedestrian pedway. The new structure will fill the parking lot from Bypass Road to the front entrance of the May Tower.
The medical facility will house nine stories of office and clinical space for outpatient surgery, exam rooms, primary and specialty care physicians and other areas. It will also contain a medical research center to support existing research – in conjunction with East Tennessee State University and other local academic centers – on health disparities, genetic research related to the prevalence of cancer and other areas, including drug and treatment trials.
For years, Pikeville Medical Center has recruited top-quality specialists in various medical professions and many of those physicians operate in offices located throughout a 20-mile radius, Farrell explained. The new facility will bring those specialists together, much like the Mayo Clinic, so that physicians can work in closer proximity to each other and treat patients in a more holistic manner, he said.
The hospital has already laid the groundwork for its new research center, which will coordinate efforts between the hospital, colleges, universities and drug companies to improve health care. When the new facility is constructed, it will be easier for doctors to work with these groups to research, for example, why there is a higher incidence of colon cancer in this region as opposed to other states, Ferrell explained.
Pikeville Medical Center administrators began initiating plans for the construction more than six months ago with the purchase of properties at Harold’s Branch and the corner of Baird Avenue, which were turned into additional parking lots, and the renovation of other hospital properties into additional parking spaces.
The hospital’s shuttle service will continue to provide transportation to and from the hospital throughout the day. The new parking garage is expected to provide 931 additional parking spaces for hospital patrons and employees.
The construction at PMC and of Pikeville College’s Coal Building are two of the largest American Reinvestment and Recovery Act projects funded in Kentucky, according to Thomas G. Fern, Director of the state’s USDA Rural Development program.
“This project is a prime example of the ARRA monies being utilized for much-needed health care facility expansion in an economically- depressed region of eastern Kentucky and Appalachia,” said Fern. “This hospital has received national recognition for its quality of care, and this money will allow them to expand and build upon their success and continue providing quality health care services to the region.”
The project is partially funded through a $44.6 million dollar USDA Rural Development Loan, which may be extended to $49 million. Pikeville Medical Center will finance the remainder of the construction cost.

http://www.medicalleader.org/blog/2010/1...dbreaking/