Carondelet St. Joseph's to submit plans for expansion
Approval would mean $80 million, 104 bed addition

Carondelet St. Joseph's Hospital is entering the final development steps with the city of Tucson to secure approval for the addition of 104 beds to the hospital and $80 million in campus improvements, announced Sally E. Jeffcoat, president and CEO of Carondelet Health Network, announced.

The three-phase approach will, over the next three years, raise the number of operational beds and increase the number of private patient rooms to 80 percent of the hospital's inpatient capacity.

New development on the campus will include a new 104-bed, five-story tower and women's pavilion, 100,000-square-foot medical office building, new parking garage, new main entrance, and expanded outpatient services.

Phase I of the development, scheduled to begin in the fall of 2005, will cost $49 million. It will include a new women's pavilion containing a new OB unit, additional telemetry beds, medical/surgical beds, and a parking garage.

Enhanced access to services

"For Carondelet St. Joseph's Hospital, inpatient census is at capacity and at the physical limits of the existing structure," Wes Colvin, CEO explained.

"We cannot meet all the requests by physicians who wish to bring their patients to our facility."

Dr. Patrick Smith, St. Joseph's chief of staff and a surgeon with Southwest Surgery, agreed adding that the planned additions to the hospital campus will greatly enhance access to services on Tucson's east side and support the growing practices of specialty physicians wanting the latest in technology and quality care for their patients.

Further stages include the redevelopment and expansion of the current hospital space to improve the inpatient and outpatient admitting processes and allow ambulatory and ancillary services to be focused on the first floor. Additional renovations will include support for specialized orthopedics, rehabilitation, and telemetry upgrades.

Cardiology services

The last phase of the campus plan includes expansion of cardiology services, catheterization labs, imaging capacities, and expanded emergency care services. Expansion of a women's inpatient unit will provide additional rooms for post-surgical care.

In the past two years, Carondelet St. Joseph's Hospital has already completed major construction projects, including a $3.8 million surgery expansion, which began in July 2004 to increase the number of operating suites by five, expanding eye surgery capabilities, and a state-of-the-art vascular surgery suite.

A team of experts have been retained to implement the master facility campus plan including META, a project management and construction consulting company, Gresham Smith Architects, and BFL/Sundt contractors, all with expertise in the planning and development of health-care facilities.

Costs of the construction will come from charitable gifts and capital funds from the operations of Carondelet Health Network, whose care for Tucson and Southern Arizona residents began 125 years ago with the opening of Carondelet St. Mary's Hospital.

Since that time, Carondelet has grown to be the 11th largest employer in Southern Arizona, maintaining its corporate headquarters in Tucson. Carondelet Health Network is sponsored by Ascension Health, the nation's largest not-for-profit, faith-based hospital system.

"These improvements were determined by having Carondelet leadership work with local communities in Southern Arizona to identify health care needs and improve access to care," said Carondelet Health Network's Board chair, Susan Boswell.

"One of the many activities developed from the work is a long-term capital improvement plan to address the growing needs of Southern Arizona--one of the nation's fastest growing regions," she said.

Long-term plans

Carondelet's long-term plans include expansions and improvements at its three existing hospitals, Carondelet St. Joseph's Hospital, Carondelet St. Mary's Hospital, and Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital.

In addition to facility improvements, Carondelet is committed to a $41 million investment in information technology to improve the quality and efficiency of care delivery at its hospitals and clinics.

A workforce demand assessment is complete and will require the recruitment and training of professional and support staff to provide the new services being planned.