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Medical center preparing for $9 million expansion

The Harrisburg Medical Center will undergo construction in a little over two months. The $9 million planned expansion will address overcrowding and the needs of the local population.

According to CEO Rodney Smith, the majority of the construction is expected to begin in January.

"We did a master facility plan, and engaged a company to look at all the demographics in the area, disease trends, physician needs, age of the facility, everything," Smith said. "This plan was intended to determine what kind of facility would be needed to serve the community for the next 15-20 years."

The results of the plan, Smith said, showed that the emergency room, intended to serve 6,000 a year, is serving double that number at present. The center's operating rooms are full on the schedule, with no more time, unless surgeries are done on second shifts or the weekends, which is the case now. The inpatient behavioral health unit houses 30 beds and is at capacity nearly every day.

That unit was highlighted in the plan and is included in the first phase of construction. An expanded entrance and lobby will be built, as well as a new emergency room, two new surgical suites, and the addition of 16 more beds to the behavioral health unit.

"If they're at capacity, we're not serving the community," Smith said.

Down the road, services from the hospital will be moved closer to the entrance of the building, laundry services will move in-house, and a new kitchen and cafeteria will be constructed.

In addition to the expansion, Air Evac Lifeteam will construct a new helipad and fueling station on the grounds of the hospital. Construction on the helipad has already begun with the removal of a large tree and a pole barn, as well as the burial of conduits in the ground to allow for the installation of new transformers and generators. Air Evac is expected to begin construction in the middle of November.

While the construction on Harrisburg Medical Center is not expected to begin until January, homeowners near the hospital have raised concerns about the effect that the work could have on their homes and lives in the weeks ahead.

Angela Stout, a Harrisburg resident, spoke before the city council at Thursday's meeting, about her concerns over the potential closure of Woolcott Street due to the construction.

"I've watched the hospital buy out houses in my neighborhood for years, only to eventually tear them down," Stout said. "I'm all for the hospital growing and becoming a top-tier facility in our community, but I want to see both the hospital and the residents of Gaskin City to come together with a plan where both sides can benefit."

Stout was concerned that the reported planned closure of Woolcott Street would have a "detrimental" effect on her business and her neighbors, limiting the access of her home and hair salon to Vince Ashley Drive.

Stout was joined by many of her neighbors who voiced concerns about being asked to move out of their homes, or who were not being properly informed of the extent of the construction. One resident even mentioned that he had been told that a bypass would be constructed to the hospital.

Smith stated that the hospital owns both sides of Woolcott Street, and is planning to either ask the city to abandon the stretch of road, or make it one-way, potentially affecting traffic. He said that officials with the hospital had spoken with several nearby residents about the construction plans.

" I did contact the neighbors that I thought would be affected."

Believing that some of the information in the public was incorrect, he said that the construction could affect traffic on nearby roads like Woolcott, Michigan, Vince Ashley, and National.

To accommodate the increase in traffic due to the construction, the hospital is working with the city to widen and improve the roads. Smith believes that traffic will naturally re-route as an effect of the construction, leading to an increase in traffic on nearby roads, which called for the road improvements.

Smith said he was unaware of any plans for the construction of a bypass.

As for the expansion itself, Smith said that the expansion will be done on hospital property, and that there are no plans to purchase any additional land to complete the expansion. In fact, the road work is the only planned work that could affect nearby residents.

"We have all of the property that we need for this expansion," Smith said. He added that he was open to meeting with residents who had concerns about the construction plans.

"We're here in this community; we certainly don't want to be a hindrance," Smith said. "We're a neighbor, just like all of the people in this neighborhood."